Harrison County Community Foundation (HCCF) has received a grant of $4,496,469 from Lilly Endowment Inc. through the Community Leadership Implementation Grants component of the eighth phase of its Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VIII) initiative. This is one of 30 implementation grants being awarded through GIFT VIII, a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative designed to support the efforts of community foundations and their partners to strengthen quality of life for the people in the towns, cities, counties and regions they serve.

With the grant, HCCF will fund the construction of a new Boys & Girls Club in northern Harrison County in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harrison-Crawford Counties. The Club building of more than 20,000 square feet will include classrooms, activity spaces, a gymnasium, a commercial kitchen, and office space for program staff. The location will be just south of the Town of Palmyra, Ind., adjacent to the new firehouse. The entire project to construct, furnish and prepare staff for the facility is projected to be $7.6 million. HCCF Board of Directors has committed

$3 million to this project. The Club is designed to provide essential childcare services for up to 215 children and offer afterschool and school break programming that focuses on academic enrichment, healthy lifestyle activities, and character development.

The concept for the new Club emerged from Vision Project 2024, a county-wide planning initiative led by HCCF in its community leadership role, also funded through GIFT VIII. Vision Project 2024 engaged over 50 community leaders and input from over 1,850 survey responses, to identify the Top Ten Priorities for Harrison County. Among those, the need for more options for affordable, dependable, and quality childcare was highlighted as a key need.

“We are thrilled to lead this project and partner with BGC to provide even more children and families with the childcare options they need,” said HCCF President & CEO Julie Moorman.

As the planning process continues in January, HCCF will be putting out a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for interested construction management firms.

“We believe that, with the generous support of Lilly Endowment Inc., this project will pave the way for an even brighter future for our community,” Moorman also added.

Harrison County Community Foundation was founded in 1996 by the Harrison County Commissioners, with an initial donation from Caesars Southern Indiana. HCCF’s mission is to inspire and assist everyone in experiencing philanthropy, producing positive and sustainable growth in Harrison County. To date, HCCF has awarded over

$120 million in grants, scholarships, and other support to Harrison County nonprofits and individuals. The Foundation is also a community convener and catalyst for growing Harrison County into the best place to live, work, and raise a family.

In 1990, Lilly Endowment launched the Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) initiative to help establish and further develop community foundations throughout Indiana. Lilly Endowment hoped that Indiana’s community foundations could enhance the quality of life in their communities by convening conversations among people of diverse ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, occupations, races and cultural traditions about their communities’ most compelling needs and opportunities as well as the best ways to address them.

About Lilly Endowment

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly, Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. The Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, and maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.