Indiana American Water recognizes Dunes Learning Center as a 2026 water and environmental grant recipient

Every year, Indiana American Water recognizes organizations throughout the state as American Water Charitable Foundation water and environmental grant recipients. On Wednesday, May 20, Indiana American Water announced that five organizations were awarded grants totalling $212,000, including one organization from Northwest Indiana.

These grants support water quality protection, environmental education, and conservation throughout Indiana communities. Joel Reuter, external affairs manager at Indiana American Water, describes how this grant process is orchestrated.

“This grant process is one where any nonprofit environmental or educational organization can apply online for the annual American Water Charitable Foundation Water and Environmental Grant. This year, we had probably two dozen really strong candidates that applied for these grants, and once the grant process closes at the end of February, we have a state review committee made up of representatives of leaders throughout our organization that take a look.”

One of the grant recipients for 2026 is the Dunes Learning Center, an organization dedicated to inspiring curiosity, scientific literacy, and environmental stewardship through hands-on learning for more than 20,000 students annually. Indiana American Water has studied the way this organization has transformed environmental education in Northwest Indiana. As a result, the Dunes Learning Center was presented with a $40,000 grant this year to fund its canoe experience encouraging watershed education.

“It’s a competitive process, and it validates that the work they’re doing in their communities is valued by organizations such as the Charitable Foundation and Indiana American Water,” Reuter said. “We have a relationship with the Dunes Learning Center. Last year they received a $15,000 grant to support the organization’s education environmental programs. Our Northwest Indiana operations team looked at all the positive things that they’re doing. They have a lot of year-round programs for school and summer campers, but the canoe experience really stood out. It helps people understand where we draw our water from, the watershed that feeds it, and the sensitivities of the dunes and swales.”

Other organizations throughout the state to be grant recipients for 2026 included the Red-Tail Land Conservancy, Wabash River Development & Beautification Inc., Indiana University Foundation’s Kokomo campus, and the Upper White River Watershed Alliance.

Heather Hahn Sullivan, executive director of the Dunes Learning Center, is very appreciative of the partnership their facility has with Indiana American Water.

“We’ve been customers of Indiana American Water for a long time and have received smaller grants from them in the past,” Sullivan said. “When we saw this one advertised, we were excited to apply. We’ve built this relationship with Indiana American Water over time, and with our Watershed Education program, we work with a variety of different partners to provide this program for Lake and Porter County students.”

The funding of this grant will support watershed education through a paddling program. This will deliver free, hands-on environmental education to students in the Region.

“This is a program that we do every year,” Sullivan said. “We expect to serve 3,000 students over four weeks, and most of those students will go on to have other experiences with the Dunes Learning Center in the winter and spring. This is something that we need to raise funds for every year in order to keep putting on the program.”

Another element to this program is the Canoe Mobile floating classroom, which connects students to Lake Michigan and local waterways through paddling instruction, water quality education, and conservation activities.

“For Canoe Mobile, students come to us as part of our larger watershed education program,” Sullivan said. “These are gigantic, Voyager canoes that can hold 10 or 12 people who are able to paddle around. We have four different locations in Lake County: Marquette Park, Wolf Lake, Bicentennial Park, and Lake George. For many of the kids, this is the first time they’ve ever been out paddling. That experience can be scary, but these are huge boats – they’re very stable. It’s a totally new way for the kids to experience nature, and by the end of an hour of paddling, they’re comfortable in the water.”

With a mission statement built around familiarizing members of the community with nature, especially students, the Dunes Learning Center’s primary objective is to create countless opportunities for people to enjoy.

“We never want cost to be a barrier to participation. We raise funds to make sure that students are able to participate in our programs, whether that’s free programs like this one that are out in the community, or if it’s our overnight programs that we’re able to subsidize the cost. It can even be other programs inside Indiana Dunes National Park,” Sullivan said.

For the Dunes Learning Center and all of this year’s grant recipients, Reuter is looking forward to seeing how these organizations are transformed long-term and continue to generate successful outcomes for their local communities.

“It’s very rewarding to help support these initiatives with our grants,” Reuter said. “There are a lot of wonderful, great ideas out in the communities. Sometimes, they just need an extra push in terms of funding to see them get started and flourish. It’s the start of these programs that last forever and provide a lot of enjoyment. It also helps Indiana American Water show that we’re being good stewards in the communities we operate in.”

To support or learn more about the Dunes Learning Center, its programs, and summer camps, you can visit duneslearningcenter.org. 

For more information on Indiana American Water, you can visit amwater.com/inaw.