Weight Loss Drug Popularity Translates Into Huge Donations to Christian Causes

Eli Lilly makes Zepbound and Mounjaro

Weight Loss Drug Popularity Translates Into Huge Donations to Christian Causes

Lorie Johnson
07-16-2026
Link was copied!

The massive popularity of GLP-1 weight loss drugs is turning into huge donations to Christian causes, thanks to the massive earnings of the drug company Eli Lilly

Eli Lilly makes Zepbound and Mounjaro, which are used to treat obesity, Type-2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease

Eli Lilly entered the Wall Street history books as the first pharmaceutical company to reach a value of more than one trillion dollars.  Lilly Endowment, the private, Christian-focused charitable foundation, is the company’s largest shareholder, owning roughly 10 percent of its stock

The financial windfall enabled the foundation to give away a jaw-dropping $1.3 billion to Christian causes in 2025

John Seitz, Founder and President of FoundationMark, which tracks the investment performance of private foundations, told CBN News the Lilly Endowment has experienced a meteoric rise in the last decade

“It’s the largest foundation. It’s bigger than the Gates Foundation, which a lot of people aren’t aware of,” he said

Foundation spokesperson Judith Cebula told CBN News it aims “to deepen and enrich the religious lives of Christians in the United States,” across racial and denominational lines, including “Mainline Protestant, Pentecostal, Catholic, and Orthodox Christian as well as black and Hispanic” churches

The foundation gave half a billion dollars to Christian theological schools, saying “the long-term vitality of congregations depends on excellent pastoral leadership.”

It also gave $235 million to support a national storytelling initiative that helps ministries “seek out and share stories that illuminate the vitality of Christian faith,” like those heard in many church testimonies

The foundation also aims to merge faith and technology by granting Notre Dame University $51 million to build a faith-based ethical framework for artificial intelligence

In addition to Christian causes, Lilly Endowment also supports hunger relief, National Parks, and schools

While the success of Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 drugs remains at an all-time high, their sales are expected to increase as researchers discover more benefits to the drugs such as treating sleep apnea, Alzheimer’s Disease and addiction.  

Beginning July 1, 2026, Medicare began covering the drugs, and Trump Rx offers the drugs at deeply discounted prices.  

So far, Eli Lilly stock is up 11 percent this year over last year, and if that growth continues, it will likely mean even more support for Christian causes next year

*** AI tools threaten to hide CBN News from your online searches! Sign up for CBN Newsletters today to ensure you can still find the latest news from a Christian perspective.***

Link was copied!

About The Author

Lorie
Johnson