Monthly Archives: October 2024

Nonprofit workshop ‘Board Basics’ offers essential training for board members

The LaGrange County Community Foundation will present a nonprofit workshop, Board Basics, on Friday, November 15, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., at the Community Foundation.

Designed for both new and seasoned board members and nonprofit leaders, Board Basics provides practical insights into the core responsibilities of nonprofit board service. Led by Mike Stone of Stone Consulting, this three-hour session will cover essential aspects of board member roles, effective governance structures, and best practices in board and committee management.

Mike Stone brings a wealth of experience to the workshop, having launched Stone Consulting in 2005 after a successful career in higher education and as a former executive director of a community foundation. His expertise in nonprofit strategy development, facilitation, and conflict mediation has empowered numerous organizations to align their boards, staff, and volunteers toward shared goals.

Workshop Highlights:

  • Roles and Responsibilities of Board Members
  • Effective Board and Committee Structures
  • Key Principles of Board Governance

The session includes refreshments and a boxed lunch, with a registration fee of $20 covering food and workshop materials.

For more details and to register, visit Lccf.net/nonprofit-workshop.

About LaGrange County Community Foundation Since its founding in 1991, the LaGrange County Community Foundation has been dedicated to fostering generosity, leadership, and service across LaGrange County. The Foundation connects people to charitable initiatives and supports nonprofits in creating meaningful, sustainable impacts in the community.

Finalists announced for LaGrange County’s 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship

The LaGrange County Community Foundation named the finalists for the 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship. From left are Morgan Riegsecker, Grace Heyerly, Gavin Engle and Annagail Warrener of Westview Jr-Sr High School and Arlene Thompson of Lakeland Jr/Sr High School.

LAGRANGE ­— Five LaGrange County high school seniors have been named finalists for the 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship.

This prestigious award recognizes an outstanding high school senior from LaGrange County who exemplifies service, leadership, and academic excellence. The recipient will receive a full-tuition scholarship for four years to any accredited college or university in Indiana, along with a $900 annual stipend for books and equipment.

The finalists are Gavin Engle, Grace Heyerly, Morgan Riegsecker, and Annagail Warrener from Westview Jr-Sr High School, and Arlene Thompson from Lakeland Jr-Sr High School.

The LaGrange County Community Foundation received 33 scholarship applications from students representing all three high schools in LaGrange County. To ensure impartiality, identifying details such as name, school, and gender are removed during the evaluation process.

The Foundation’s Lilly Scholarship Advisory Committee assesses applications based on academic performance, involvement in community and school activities, work experience, leadership, and essay responses. The top five students with the highest scores are then invited to participate in the finalist round.

On Monday, the Community Foundation hosted a scholarship workshop for all finalists, helping them prepare for their upcoming personal interviews. During the workshop, students also completed an impromptu essay, which will contribute to their overall evaluation.

The Lilly Scholarship Advisory Committee will conduct personal interviews with all finalists on October 21. This year, students will also be required to create and present a digital presentation about themselves to share with the committee, marking a new addition to the process. The scores from this finalist round, including the interview and presentation will be combined with their overall application score to determine the 2025 nominees who will be submitted to Independent Colleges of Indiana for final selection of the LaGrange County recipient.

Announcement of the recipient will be made in December. The four remaining finalists will each receive a $4,000 scholarship from the Lambright Leadership Scholarship Fund, established by Kevin and Carrie Lambright of Shipshewana in 2013.

The scholarship program is offered each year by the LaGrange County Community Foundation, and other Indiana community foundations across the state to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.