(LAGRANGE) - LaGrange County residents now have a new way to invest in the future of the county.
The LaGrange County Community Foundation is announcing a new $750,000 matching grant program from Lilly Endowment Inc. Through the ninth phase of Lilly Endowment's Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT IX) initiative, the Community Foundation has received a $750,000 matching grant that will support two priorities: building permanent unrestricted resources for LaGrange County and advancing construction of the Hawpatch Trail.
The Community Foundation has allocated $450,000 of the grant to build its unrestricted endowment and $300,000 to advance construction of a 10-mile corridor of the trail, which will eventually connect Topeka to Millersburg and Wolcottville.
There are two ways for the community to multiply the impact of their charitable gifts. One is through Unrestricted Endowment, where for every $1 contributed to qualifying unrestricted endowed funds at the Community Foundation, Lilly endowment will provide $2 in matching funds.
The second way is the Hawpatch Trail. This will see gifts to the Hawpatch Trail Project Fund being matched dollar for dollar, up to $300,000. To help keep the trail construction moving forward, The Foundation is seeking to raise the full $300,000 by March 31.