The Lilly Endowment and several other organizations have awarded $2.4 million to help support 186 summer programs in the Indianapolis area as part of the Summer Youth Program Fund.
The endowment says the various summer camps will support more than 40,000 young people this summer.
Funding from the program is broken down into several areas, including overnight camps for children who suffer from autism or other diseases, daily programs run by churches or community organizations, arts and sports programs and youth-employment.
Along with usual summer camp activities like canoeing and hiking, children who attend the programs will be given expert teaching in areas like creative thinking, music, and rocket science, and also gain real-life skills like money management and career planning.
Other organizations, such as the Boys and Girls Clubs and the Indianapolis YMCA, will receive special capital grants to help renovate facilities and purchase new equipment, vans or mini-buses to transport participants.
The Lilly Endowment, which was started in 1937, has been an integral part of the program since 1995.
The program’s success has also gotten the attention of the National Summer Learning Association, which will feature the program during its annual conference this November.
"The staff and volunteers of the organizations that provide summer youth programming in our community impress us each year with their enthusiasm and creativity," said Willis K. Bright, endowment director of youth programming.
Among the organizations receiving funding is Project SEED, which helps teach advanced math skills to classes of underachieving students, and also provides teachers with advanced training skills they can take back to their classrooms.
The 10 other funders for the Summer Youth Program Fund are the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation, City of Indianapolis/Department of Metropolitan Development, Clowes Fund, Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, Hoover Family Foundation, Indianapolis Foundation, Indianapolis Foundation Library Fund, JP Morgan Chase Foundation, Lumina Foundation for Education and Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.