The Portland Foundation is hoping to bring in $500,000 from a Lilly Endowment program, with a fifth of that money targeted for the Portland Water Park project.

The foundation announced in a press release Tuesday that it will participate in the sixth phase of Lilly Endowment’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) Initiative, which provides money to support local charitable organizations in Indiana. GIFT has provided about $5 million to The Portland Foundation over the course of the last 25 years.

“We are honored and humbled by Lilly Endowment’s generosity to The Portland Foundation and all Indiana community foundations,” Doug Inman, executive director of The Portland Foundation, said in a press release. “As an organization we will work diligently to ensure we qualify for all of the matching funds offered by the endowment.”

The $500,000 total is the maximum amount available to Jay County based on its population.

The biggest chunk — $100,000 — would go toward the construction of Portland Water Park, which is scheduled to open in 2015 to replace the 54-year-old Portland Pool. That money would be given as matching funds to $200,000 raised through community donations.

It would be in addition to the $250,000 The Portland Foundation has already pledged toward the project.
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