Eleven years ago, Shirley Heinze Land Trust launched the public phase of its first-ever Capital Campaign, with the theme “Take a Walk with Shirley.” The goal of the Campaign was to raise $3.5 million to advance our mission of protecting important habitats and ecosystems across Northwest Indiana, with funds being used to underwrite the acquisition of environmentally significant land in the region; to help restore new land once added to our management portfolio and to better manage existing project areas; and to promote conservation awareness through education programs and increased access to natural areas. The public phase of the Campaign featured a series of hikes at Shirley Heinze nature preserves, including our Ambler Flatwoods and Barker Woods properties in LaPorte County, Seidner Dune and Swale in Lake County, and Meadowbrook Nature Preserve in Porter County.
Due to the generosity of area corporate, foundation, public and hundreds of individual donors, the Campaign was a tremendous success, ultimately exceeding our goal by over $1.1 million. By the numbers, we raised:
- $3,754,463 for Land (142% of our goal)
- $600,000 for Stewardship (100% of our goal)
- $250,000 for Education (100% of our goal)
and we Preserved an additional 598 acres of land (120% of our 500-acre goal), bringing our total acreage to over 2,200 acres.
In more concrete, human terms:
- We increased the number of children given on-the-ground environmental education in Northwest Indiana from 1,500 to 3,500 through the NWI Mighty Acorns Partnership;
- We increased public access at many sites and created the Guidebook to the Nature Preserves of Shirley Heinze Land Trust;
- We acquired a retired Girl Scout Camp as our new Meadowbrook headquarters, and launched the largest reforestation project in northern Indiana; and
- We created a conservation vision that was adopted by the State of Indiana as the “Little Calumet River Conservation Corridor” including the permanent protection of ten miles of continuous riverfront.
Since 2015, Shirley Heinze has continued to experience phenomenal growth, having expanded our land holdings to over 4,000 acres, our geography into St. Joseph, Starke and Marshall counties, and our mission to include agricultural and water quality.
We are grateful to everyone who made the Campaign possible, setting us on a trajectory that got us to where we are today. There may be a time in the not-too-distant future when we will be asking you to take another “Walk with Shirley.” Stay tuned!
