The American Water Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created by American Water, the nation’s largest publicly traded water and wastewater utility company, today announced the recipients of the 2021 Keep Communities Flowing grant program awards. Nine projects in seven states will be supported by grants totaling $153,400.

“The American Water Charitable Foundation is proud to support communities served by American Water through the Keep Communities Flowing grant program,” said Carrie Williams, president of the American Water Charitable Foundation. “Through this competitive grant program, we focus on high-impact projects and initiatives that engage the community in water-based education, the environment, and community sustainability to empower communities to be strong, vibrant, healthy and environmentally friendly.”

Celebrating its third year, the Keep Communities Flowing grant program provides grants up to $20,000 to support 501(c)(3) public charities whose program or project connects to one or more of American Water’s core focus areas of Water and the Environment, Water and Healthy Living, Environmental Education, and Community Sustainability. During the last three years, the Keep Communities Flowing grant program has funded 32 projects totaling $456,000 in communities served by American Water.

The 2021 grant recipients include the following:

• Belleville Township High School – District 201, Belleville, IL received $20,000 to develop a network of community-focused plastic recycling centers to collect, recycle and produce useful tools.
• Sun Foundation, Peoria, IL received $10,000 for software that will help improve content and virtual experience for students attending 28^th Clean Water Celebration.
• Friends of the Parks Fayette County, Lexington, KY received $20,000 to install signage related to water quality and green infrastructure along new Town Branch Commons Trail Walking Tour.
• Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, Camden, NJ received $18,000 to improve water quality and mitigate local flooding through a community-wide Adopt-A-Drain Program.
• Up With Trees, Tulsa, OK received $20,000 to plant fruit and nut bearing trees along watershed in community lacking access to fresh food, decreasing debris draining into creek and improving water quality.
• Stroud Water Research Center, Norristown, PA received $16,000 to upgrade software for their citizen science network to learn, measure, and monitor water quality in the Delaware River Basin.
• Warren County Development Association, Warren County, PA received $15,000 to enhance a 30-mile bike trail system, encouraging outdoor recreation while boosting tourism in an economically distressed community.
• James River Association, Richmond, VA received $14,400 to help fund an interactive field-based environmental watershed education program for several hundred high school students.
• Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation, Charleston, WV received $20,000 to update a community playground, providing a safe outdoor play space for children and families in an underserved community.

Grantees for this program required a local American Water sponsor and were selected based on criteria including clarity of project goals and projected impact, innovation and strength of project, and evidence of community and volunteer engagement. For more information about the Keep Communities Flowing grant program, contact the American Water Charitable Foundation at awcf@amwater.com. The application process for the next round of grant funding will be announced in 2022.

About American Water

With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse U.S. publicly traded water and wastewater utility company. The company employs more than 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to 15 million people in 46 states. American Water provides safe, clean, affordable and reliable water services to our customers to help make sure we keep their lives flowing. For more information, visit amwater.com and follow American Water on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

About the American Water Charitable Foundation

The American Water Charitable Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides a formal way to demonstrate the company’s ongoing commitment to being a good neighbor, citizen, and contributor to the communities where American Water and its employees live, work and operate. The Foundation helps support American Water employee-identified nonprofit endeavors.

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