GREENFIELD — A recent New Palestine High School graduate was chosen as the first recipient of the newly-established scholarship honoring a fallen 4-H’er.
Madison Kindred, 17, of New Palestine, was given the Riley Settergren 10-year 4-H Scholarship, which was created earlier this year in memory of Settergren, who died last July in a car accident.
The $500 award was presented by the Country Kritters, Settergren’s 4-H club. The gift was given in partnership with the Riley Charles Settergren Foundation, the charitable organization Jay and Tammy Settergren created in their son’s memory.
The 2018 Hancock County 4-H Fair would have been Settergren’s 10th year in 4-H. The friends and loved ones he left behind decided the best way to honor his memory would be to recognize another 10-year 4-H’er who has shown the same passion and enthusiasm for the program as Settergren did, they said.
Kindred, the daughter of Jeff and Shelli Kindred, has shown pigs and boer goats and completed food projects through her decade in 4-H.
She is a member of the Junior Leaders 4-H Club, and has twice been selected to serve on the fair queen’s court.
She plans to attend Purdue University to study pre-medicine and hopes to continue on to medical school, earn a degree in dermatology and specialize in cosmetic dermatology.
Settergren’s scholarship was among a dozen handed out by various groups and organizations during the Hancock County 4-H Fair.
Country Kritters plans to award the scholarship annually, in conjunction with Jay and Tammy Settergren’s further philanthropic efforts.
The couple started the Riley Charles Settergren Foundation, a 501c3, hoping to help young people and growing local schools, athletic programs and 4-H groups through scholarships and financial aid.
This year, they gave away four $1,000 scholarships and four $500 scholarships to Eastern Hancock High School graduating seniors.
They hope to grow their gift-giving in the future to include students from Greenfield-Central, New Palestine, Mt. Vernon and Knightstown high schools.