March 26, 2026
Contact: Judith Cebula
317.916.7327 | communications@lei.org

New grants will fund large-scale capital projects to help Indiana residential camps better serve youth

 

INDIANAPOLIS  – Lilly Endowment Inc. has approved a new round of grants totaling more than $155 million to help residential (overnight) youth camps in Indiana enhance and expand their facilities. This is the final group of grants the Endowment has made through its three-phase Capital Projects Initiative for Residential Youth Camps.

The 40 grants will help camps in 29 Indiana counties provide high-quality programming and experiences that contribute to positive outcomes for children and youth.  The organizations that received these grants run a wide variety of residential youth camps across the state, including YMCA camps, faith-based camps, camps affiliated with Scouting America and the Girl Scouts, and camps that focus on children and youth with unique health challenges, among others. Some organizations operate multiple camps in Indiana.

Made through a competitive phase of the initiative, the grants are providing partial support for large-scale capital projects that include construction of new cabins and new playgrounds, athletic courts, aquatics facilities and other outdoor recreation amenities; new land acquisition to expand camp properties; and renovations to make camps more accessible. Many of the grants will help the camps meet increased demand for their residential programs.

See the grants list here.

“Residential camps play a positive role in youth development – especially during a time when young people have fewer opportunities to explore the natural world and engage in the types of social interactions with others that residential camps can offer,” said Ted Maple, the Endowment’s vice president for education. “The large-scale projects that these grants are supporting will help camps across Indiana not only improve their facilities but increase their capacity to serve more campers through high-quality programs.”

In earlier phases of the Capital Project Initiative for Residential Youth Camps, the Endowment made planning grants and non-competitive implementation grants to support smaller-scale capital improvements at camps in Indiana totaling $87 million. The initiative adds to the Endowment’s long-standing support of youth-serving organizations in Indiana.

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