$75,000 Cinergy Foundation Grant Will Create New Opportunities for Schools and Community Groups in DePauw's Nature Park

January 24, 2006

January 24, 2006, Greencastle, Ind. - The Cinergy Foundation, the philanthropic arm of PSI Energy, Inc., has awarded a $75,000 grant to DePauw University's Nature Park. The gift will create new educational opportunities for Indiana students and community groups on the 481-acre site. DePauw will offer high school students a week-long environmental science summer camp, to be led by teams of DePauw faculty members and undergraduate science students. The grant will also provide for collaborations with middle school and high school students on research projects; Saturday science programs for school students; and opportunities for community groups to enjoy guided tours and other activities in the park. (at left: Neal B. Abraham, executive vice president of DePauw, accepts the check from Cinergy Foundation President Joe Hale)

The DePauw grant was among several presented today at a luncheon at Walden Inn. The Cinergy Foundation awarded a total of $90,500 in grants to Greencastle organizations and programs. Through the Cinergy Foundation, Cinergy Corp. contributes 1 percent of its pretax profits in the communities it serves in support of the arts, education, human services and community development.

[Download Audio: "A Statewide Resource" - 589kb] "We have received many requests over the years from... hundreds of schools that wished to maybe create an outdoor environmental education lab," says Joe Hale, president of the Cinergy Foundation. "But these are very small operations dealing with perhaps one class.  What we see this nature park doing is becoming, really, a statewide resource so that teachers and students from around the state can come and be educated on the importance of the environment in one of the more beautiful natural settings, I think, in the state."

Neal B. Abraham, executive vice president of DePauw, as well as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at the University, calls the Cinergy Foundation's support "a major endorsement for the Nature Park and its programs and DePauw's goal of making community outreach a priority.  [Download Audio: "Major Endorsement" - 155kb] "It was our intention all along to add that as part of our programming, and so this allows us to do the things that link DePauw more closely to the region and to the community.

The DePauw Nature Park opened to the public in September 2004.  It includes ten miles of trails that wind through the property and along Big Walnut Creek, the  as well as outdoor classrooms and a small outdoor amphitheater. Two buildings have recently opened -- the Manning Environmental Field Station and the Ian and Mimi Rolland Welcome and Activities Center -- and plans for the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics were announced in September.

Hanson Aggregates mined a limestone quarry on the site, which is located one-third of a mile from the western edge of the DePauw campus, for nearly a half century (map above shows the new Nature Park in yellow, the existing DePauw campus is in red). The company donated 280 acres of the land, and is leasing the remaining 178 acres to the University for $1 annually for ninety-nine years. DePauw acquired 23 acres of adjacent property to increase the total to 481 acres.

[Download Audio: "A Unique Learning Environment" - 878kb] "The park is just about 500-acres of prarie, woodland and quarry scar that forms a unique set of habitats ranging from 50-year-old forests to recently-recovering areas from the quarrying operation," Dr. Abraham explains.  "So, one can do bird-watching along Big Walnut Creek, where there are several miles of trails.  One can walk the rim of the 50-foot quarry area and see woodlands, wildlife and birds... see a variety of recovering habitats, so one can see how nature heals the scars of man's environmental damage.  And through that, we can learn things such as -- in an 'instant laboratory' -- how scars from a glacier might heal over perhaps thousands of years.  We have those micro-ecological niches that we can watch recover."

Cinergy's Hale (whose son Grant is a 1999 graduate of DePauw) calls the grant to the Nature Park [Download Audio: "A Win" - 778kb] "a win in many ways.  First of all, it supports DePauw University (which) we admire very much -- a major university in the state, and an economic engine, really, for this area.   Second, it was going to be a community resource.  We love the educational aspect of it and the fact that it was going to be available to schools in the area.  And third, even though Cinergy is burning 30-million tons of coal a year to produce electricity, we also realize the impact that has on the environment.  So we're always looking for ways that we can support efforts that are going to teach young people about the importance of the environment -- maintaining a clean environment -- and we really do that in tandem with looking at new technology in terms of ways to produce cleaner electricity that will ultimately improve the environment as well." (photo at right: Dana Dudle, associate professor of biology at DePauw; Stacie Stoffregen, science teacher at Greencastle Middle School; Dr. Abraham; Mr. Hale; Vanessa Artman, assistant professor of biology and coordinator of the Nature Park; Brien Holsapple, Nature Park ranger)

The Cinergy Foundation also announced the following grants today:

• Hometown Greencastle Alliance, $5,000 for the development of a community marketing plan.
• Friends of Putnam County Park Association, $1,000 for Fourth of July community celebration.
• Putnam County Museum, $1,000 for professional contracting services to plan and execute the renovation of the new museum home.
• City of Greencastle Parks and Recreation, $1,000 to assist the development of Big Walnut Community Park.
• Putnam County Playhouse, $1,000 for Sound of Music production.
• 4 Community, $1,000 for resources supporting students and parents in career planning and academic success.
• Putnam County United Way, $1,500 for the United Way Community Campaign.
• Greencastle/Putnam County Development Center, $4,000 for economic development efforts.

Eric Wolfe, director of community development for the Putnam County Community Foundation and 2004 graduate of DePauw (seen at left with Joe Hale), says Cinergy  [Download Audio: "Eric Wolfe '04" - 219kb] "is a community partner that is very valuable to us.  We've seen a lot of different community partners (and) Cinergy is one of the top, by far."

Cinergy is Indiana's largest supplier of electricity, serving more than 750,000 customers in 69 of Indiana's 92 counties. Read more about today's announcement at Inside Indiana Business.

The DePauw University Nature Park is open to the public from dawn to dusk, seven days a week.  Camping is permitted only in designated areas and with authorization.  For more information, contact Brien Holsapple, park ranger, at (765) 653-5139, or the Public Safety Office at (765) 658-4261.  Visit the DePauw Nature Park online by clicking here.

Back