Play Ball Indiana surpassed Lilly Endowment Matching Goal

Part of the $600,000 grant Play Ball Indiana received from Lilly Endowment in 2007 included a $150,000 matching component. We are pleased to report that we surpassed that goal on Oct. 31, and will receive a $150,000 matching grant in December.

Lilly Endowment agreed to match every contribution received by Play Ball Indiana from Dec. 1 2007 through Oct. 31, 2008. For the campaign, we received 154 gifts totaling $157,549.49. The big three donors (over $10,000) were Dr. Charles E. Test, the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and the Cincinnati Reds Community Fund. Other large donors (over $2500) include: Indiana Sports Corporation, Indianapolis Foundation, USA Funds, Friends of Garfield Park, Lumina Foundation, Wellpoint, The Indiana Rail Road Company, R.L. Kizer Management, and Scott Taylor. The complete list of donors will be published in our upcoming annual report in early 2008.

As part of this year's campaign the Play Ball Indiana board of directors established the Dr. Charles E. Test Scholarship Fund in honor of his generous giving. The first two recipients of the $1000 scholarships were awarded at the Sandlot Lunch on Nov. 5. Neisha Tate, an Arlington grad and current freshman at IUPUI, and Matt Demmary, a Howe grad and current freshman at Marian College were the first two recipients. We'd like to thank the Lumina Foundation and the Sallie Mae Foundation for making the first two contributions to the scholarship fund.