Tracy Souza
Photo provided
I really love it when a philanthropic initiative quietly comes full circle and creates something good that may not even be known or understood by the people who are impacted! We have a local example of that full circle to celebrate.
Heritage Fund recently named a new chair of our Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Committee — Aida Ramirez, Columbus Human Rights director and a Heritage Fund board member. What makes her appointment so special is that Aida is a former Lilly Scholar from the Class of 1999 in Lake County, Indiana. In fact, Aida was in just the second cohort of the statewide program!
Today’s culture of immediate gratification and public celebration often conflicts with the slower and quieter work of philanthropy. Sure, there are grants that can be quickly and loudly celebrated like funding for a new building. But more often, grants take time and steady support over a period of years to demonstrate real benefit. Those grants are not the ones that often make headlines.
Once such grant is the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program that began almost 25 years ago. This scholarship is supported by grants from Lilly Endowment to Independent Colleges of Indiana and administered by community foundations across Indiana for the purpose of raising the level of educational attainment in the state. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character and leadership. Scholarship recipients receive full tuition and book fee stipends.
Today, because of the success of the program, some private colleges offer free room and board to attract Lilly Scholars. Year by year, with steady support, the LECSP has helped to educate more than 5,000 Hoosiers, many of whom remain in Indiana and contribute to the state’s economic success.
Each community foundation creates its own selection criteria. We likely won’t ever know about the group of community foundation volunteers who selected Aida Ramirez as one of Lake County’s 1999 Lilly Scholars, but we do know that Columbus, Indiana, and Heritage Fund have benefited from their ensuring that a young Aida was able to get the education she wanted and deserved. I am grateful to the Lilly Endowment and the volunteer committee that made such a wise selection.
Now, Aida has the unique opportunity to keep that circle turning by making sure that Heritage Fund selects two worthy students to receive the next round of Lilly Scholarships for Bartholomew County.
That is something to love!
Tracy Souza is president and CEO of Heritage Fund – The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County. Contact the fund at 812-376-7772 to learn more about how they can help you do “Your Philanthropy. Your Way.” Send comments to [email protected].
