FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | December 6, 2018

Community Foundation of Boone County Announces 2019 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Recipients

Two local students have been named recipients of four-year, full tuition scholarships as the 2019 Boone County Lilly Endowment Community Scholars. Abigail Davis of Sheridan High School and Dominick Seppel of Lebanon High School will receive full tuition to an accredited public or private nonprofit college or university in Indiana and a $900 stipend for required books and equipment.

Abigail Davis of Sheridan High School

Dominick Seppel of Lebanon High School

Abigail Davis, daughter of Richard and Nicole Davis of Whitestown, has served her community through Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership (HOBY) Indiana as a school representative, junior staff member, and World Leadership Congress scholarship recipient. She is student body president, heavily engaged in the Free Lunch Club with Sheridan First United Methodist Church, and a Revolution of Hope volunteer. Additionally, Abigail is employed at the Sheridan Public Library, sings in the choir, and has a lifetime goal of completing 4,000 service hours in her community. She is planning to study environmental science and journalism at Butler University.

Abigail’s mother, who was also surprised with the news this morning was ecstatic and so proud of her daughter. She expressed her gratitude to all in attendance, “Thanks to all of you! You are why Abby is here. This is a culmination of so many years of hard work! Eeek! And, we don’t have to live off of Ramen Noodles next year with two kids in college!”

Son of Paul and Karynn Seppel of Lebanon, Dominick Seppel is a 10-year 4-H club member serving in multiple leadership roles at the club, county, and state level of 4-H. Dominick is also an alumnus of the Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership (HOBY) conference, Boone County Kiwanis Global Youth Leadership Academy, and Indiana State Rotary Youth Leadership Conference. At Lebanon High School he is involved with National Honor Society, DECA Business Club, United Way of Boone County Youth Engagement Team, and Ambassadors Club. He has also served as an AmeriCorps volunteer. Dominick plans to study the Accelerated Dual Accounting program to obtain his bachelor’s and master’s degree in four years as a Certified Public Accountant.

Dominick and his family were also surprised with the news of the award when Lebanon High School Principal, Kevin O’Rourke, asked them to come in for a video shoot. Dominick was speechless for a few moments, which is unlike his usual personality. Once the news of the full-tuition scholarship award sunk in, Dominick said, “I wouldn’t be where I am without the people who support me like my advisors and teachers, and my parents most specifically. This is amazing! Thank you.”

“Once again there was an outstanding group of applicants from Boone County. To choose just two out of a pool of 63 deserving students is not an easy task. The poise, talent, volunteerism, and work ethic of these students gives us so much confidence in the future leaders in our community. A special thank you to our committee of volunteers for their time and dedication, and congratulations to Abigail and Dominick!” said Community Foundation President & CEO Kristi Reynolds.

This year, 63 students applied for the Boone County Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship. Nine finalists took part in an interview process and 2 nominees and 2 alternates were submitted to Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc. (ICI) which selects the final recipients. The scholarship recipients are nominated by a committee of county-wide volunteers who evaluate each student’s community involvement, volunteerism, academic performance, work experience, extracurricular activities and awards and honors. Since the inception of the Lilly Scholars Program in 1998, CFBC has awarded the scholarship to 14 Lebanon High School seniors, 15 Western Boone seniors, 13 Zionsville Community High School seniors, 2 Sheridan High School seniors, and 1 Covenant Christian senior.

ICI is a nonprofit corporation that represents 30 regionally accredited degree-granting, nonprofit, private colleges and universities in the state.

The primary purposes of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program are 1) to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and 3) 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. The Endowment hopes that this program will continue to encourage many of Indiana’s most talented student to attend one of Indiana’s higher education institutions and after graduation consider pursuing occupations in Indiana.

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For more information, contact Ali@communityfoundationbc.org

ABOUT THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF BOONE COUNTY

The Community Foundation of Boone County unites people, organizations and philanthropy to create a thriving community for all. We:

Engage the community and educate citizens on how they can make a difference here at home.
Invest in people, programs and organizations that transform lives and communities.
Lead a vision for collaborative solutions to address the root causes of challenges facing our community.

Forever. The establishment and growth of permanent endowment funds will strengthen Boone County for generations to come.

Since 1991, the Community Foundation has preserved more than $22 million in permanent assets to serve the community while also awarding more than $22 million in grants back to Boone County. By our community, for our community – forever.
For more information about Community Foundation of Boone County, visit our website: www.communityfoundationbc.org.