In 2023, the Indiana 4‑H Foundation awarded 31 YES Grants for a total of $28,544.30! Thanks to generous sponsorships from the Nola Gentry Charitable Trust and Corteva Agriscience, the following 4‑H members received funding based on grant proposals they submitted to the Indiana 4‑H Foundation:
Travis Barnhart, Marshall County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Marshall County Junior Leaders will assemble 150 birthday cake boxes, including cake pans, cake mix, frosting, candles, and cans of soda, and donate them to 6 local food pantries and 1 neighborhood center in the county.
Gavin Bice, Benton County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Lucky Pines 4‑H Club will partner with Discover Oxford to improve the town square in Oxford, Indiana by planting and taking care of flowers.
Gabi Boerner, Posey County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Fashion Forward project will provide new back-to-school clothing for at least 11 elementary school students in need.
Alyssa Cain, Hancock County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Hancock County Junior Leaders will partner with Life Choices Care Center to provide 20 bags filled with basic necessities needed by new mothers for their babies.
Ashlee Clodfelter, Parke County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Parke County Junior Leaders will host a Supermarket Sweep project, an all-day fundraising and grocery games event to raise awareness about food insecurity and provide donations to the food insecurity alliance.
Alyssa Coomes, Vanderburgh County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Vanderburgh County Junior Leaders will lead story time and activities during their county fair to teach safety practices to children in the community.
Olivia Dillman, Lawrence County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Sittin’ with Spurs project will refinish old bleachers and install them around the horse and pony area at the county fairgrounds so that spectators are able to comfortably enjoy the events held there.
Charlie English, Vanderburgh County
Grant Award: $1,000
The youth involved in the Friday Funday project will teach STEM, arts, and foods lessons and activities on Fridays in the summer at the Boys & Girls Club of Vanderburgh County.
Alexa Finke, Fulton County
Grant Award: $1,000
This team of youth will fully fund the Macy Food Pantry Backpack Program for an entire school year.
Emily Grant, Hancock County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Whole Farmer is a Facebook and Instagram page that focuses on the mental, physical, spiritual, and social health of farmers and people in the agriculture industry.
Kynsey Hasty, Hancock County
Grant Award: $1,000
The 4‑H youth involved in the Kindergarten 101 Literacy Program will help fund an early literacy program to buy books and read them to young students in the summer.
Scout Marsolf, Parke County
Grant Award: $964.45
The Parke County 4‑H Dog Club will make snuffle mats for the local shelter and rescue and learn the importance of providing dogs with mental enrichment.
Katie McCashland, Union County
Grant Award: $500
The youth in this project will create and donate sensory bins, with items such as fidget toys and weighted blankets, for students at Liberty Elementary School to use during the school day.
Ava Miller, Clay County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Clay County 4‑H Rabbit Club will buy new rabbit show tables and rabbit coops for the rabbit barn.
Rain Newman, Owen County
Grant Award: $1,000
The 4‑H Fishing Team will carry out their Learn to Grow project, which will teach kids the importance of our food supply and how to plant, transplant, and grow food.
Kendric Personett, Cass County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Cass County 4‑H Junior Leaders will replace an old leaky drinking fountain on the county fairgrounds with a new touchless water fountain that will refill bottles of water and greatly reduce water bottle waste.
Aubrey Peterson, Vanderburgh County
Grant Award: $1,000
The 4‑Hers involved in the Back Pack to School project will buy backpacks and school supplies to assemble and donate to underserved youth in the Boys & Girls Club.
Olivia Rigby, DeKalb County
Grant Award: $579.85
The DeKalb County 4‑H Junior Leaders will create 100 food care packages for county food pantries where there have been food shortages.
Hailey Robbins, St. Joseph County
Grant Award: $1,000
The youth involved in this project will sell t-shirts and baked goods to raise money for purchasing donations for Miller’s Veterans.
Reese Ann Rowland, Kosciusko County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Kosciusko County Junior Leaders will install a metal tree with engraved 4‑H clovers in the memorial garden at the county fairgrounds to honor loved ones that have passed away.
Sawyer Scheid, Monroe County
Grant Award: $400
The Insect Biodiversity Community Outreach project will complete research on insect biodiversity at Monroe Lake to present to the community through awareness events.
Lacy Mae Schilmiller, Floyd County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Floyd County Junior Leaders Club will assemble birthday kits, including cake mix, icing, cake pans, candles, and decorations, to donate to local food pantries.
Marissa Schirmer, Hendricks County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Networking for Neighbors project will continue to provide a resource that promotes help, kind acts, and connection for the veteran population in the community.
Abigail Stallings, Warrick County
Grant Award: $300
The Warrick County 4‑H Ambassadors Club will operate a free craft booth at the county fair to keep children busy with fun and engaging activities so that parents can enjoy looking at 4‑H projects.
Evelyn Stallings, Warrick County
Grant Award: $1,000
The 4‑H Robotics Club will purchase 3 robot kids and 4 laptops to be able to host Robotics outreach workshops for youth in rural areas.
Ily Swan, Owen County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Willing Workers 4‑H Club will provide donations and service for Horse Angels, Inc., a local facility that rescues horses and gives horse riding lessons to 4‑Hers.
Alyssa Swanson, Kosciusko County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Teaching with Teens program will allow high school students to educate elementary students on STEM-related topics.
Sanjana Veeraraghavan, Warrick County
Grant Award: $1,000
Friends for Fidgets is a project to assemble kits of fidget toys for 90 children with autism spectrum disorder.
Audrie Walker, Vanderburgh County
Grant Award: $1,000
The 4‑H youth in this project will assemble and donate backpacks with food and essentials for the homeless in the community.
Kaitlyn Whitaker, Porter County
Grant Award: $800
The Porter County Junior Leaders will construct and maintain an outdoor food pantry on the county fairgrounds that provides 24-hour access to food.
Mason Youngclaus, Hancock County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Blue River Guys & Gals 4‑H Club will start a fund to provide paid 4‑H enrollment fees and experiences for youth in the county that may not otherwise be able to participate.