Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded Ben’s Ranch Foundation a grant of $97,660 to help establish school-based programs, expand small group programming, and serve more Central Indiana teens struggling with their mental health.
Ben’s Ranch Foundation’s work is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s initiative, Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana. The aim of the competitive initiative is to help youth-serving organizations working throughout Indiana improve their abilities to promote the academic, physical and social well-being of young people, ages five through 18.
Ben’s Ranch Foundation operates and supports programs designed to connect teens who have mental health challenges to jobs on farms and at stables and equine therapy facilities. The organization has found that exposure to hard work, nature and animals complements traditional therapies and helps teens relieve stress, build confidence, and learn new skills.
“This is more than a grant from Lilly Endowment – it is a huge vote of confidence in our work,” said Ben’s Ranch Foundation Founder and Executive Director Brose McVey. “We are proud to earn Lilly Endowment’s support. This generous grant, together with a recent grant from Round Room Gives, represents an exciting turning point for our organization at a time when one in four Hoosier students has seriously contemplated suicide.”
Ben’s Ranch Foundation is one of 187 organizations receiving grants through Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana.
“Indiana’s youth-serving organizations are crucial to the healthy development of children and youth across the state,’ said Ted Maple, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for education. “The challenges these organizations have faced in meeting the needs of young people in recent years have made their work increasingly difficult. Lilly Endowment is pleased to support their efforts to strengthen programs and serve more youth more effectively.”
Lilly Endowment launched Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana Initiative in 2022 with an invitational round of grants to nine national youth-serving organizations to help them expand and enhance the work of their Indiana affiliates or chapters.
About Ben’s Ranch Foundation
Ben’s Ranch Foundation is a not-for-profit organization based in Central Indiana. The organization operates and supports programs designed to connect teens who have mental health challenges to jobs on farms and in stables and equine therapy facilities. Businessman Brose McVey founded the organization in honor of his late son, Ben, who suffered from mental illness before his unexpected death at 24-years-old. For more information, visit www.bensranch.org.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. 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, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. Although the Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, it maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.