LaGrange County Community Foundation is pleased to announce the 2023 recipient of the Natalie Kauffman Memorial Nursing Scholarship: Olivia Mettert.

The $1,000 scholarship supports college students and non-traditional students pursuing a degree in nursing. The scholarship is open to students who have graduated from a LaGrange County high school or adults currently working in the healthcare field in LaGrange County. Applicants must be accepted or enrolled in an accredited nursing program to be eligible.

Mettert is a 2020 graduate of Prairie Heights High School, and is entering her senior year of nursing school at Purdue University in West Lafayette.  While at home the last two summers on break, she has worked for Parkview Health in their student nursing program.  Most recently, she worked in the in Infusion Clinic at the Packnett Family Cancer Institute on Parkview’s main campus.

In her scholarship application Mettert wrote: “My hope and reasoning is to be a nurse that provides individualized and compassionate care for all individuals regardless of what their situation may be. By providing this compassionate and individualized care for all patients, their care will not only be optimal, but their lives may be changed by the experience that they have had.”

The scholarship honors Natalie Kauffman, a 2010 Lakeland High School graduate.  Kauffman passed away on October 18, 2013, while a junior in the nursing program at IPFW. She demonstrated love, respect, and compassion for others, and carried the belief that people are on earth to help each other. The Kauffman family established the scholarship to promote those ideals, support aspiring nurses, and continue Natalie’s legacy of helping others.