Over the Summer our family gathers together for a day long family vision day where we spend the day setting goals and brainstorming how we as a family will make a difference over the next year. One of our 2012/2013 goals this year was to commit to a monthly service project – I am excited to share with you one of our Service projects we will be participating in this fall : The Home Depot Celebration Of Service project.
Today, The Home Depot® Foundation announced that it has surpassed the three- year $30 million pledge it made in 2011 to veterans’ housing initiatives more than a year ahead of schedule. As part of its second annual Celebration of Service campaign, the Foundation is now committing an additional $50 million to veterans’ nonprofits over the next three years in an effort to ensure every veteran has a safe place to call home.
It truly is TIME TO CELEBRATE as not only does the extra funding call for a celebration but Today (September 6th , 2012 ) The Home Depot store associates and The Home Depot Foundation are embarking on a two-month community outreach initiative to transform the homes and lives of veterans across the country. From Sept. 6 to Veterans Day, store associate volunteers will complete hundreds of service projects – from making mobility modifications to the homes of injured veterans to renovating shelters for homeless veterans. Volunteer projects also will include energy efficient upgrades to homes of individual veterans and facilities that serve them to help reduce utility bills.
Projects led by Team Depot today will include:
Atlanta: More than 220 volunteers are working with HouseProud to renovate the homes of 11 veterans, including James Mahone, a 66-year-old veteran of the U.S. Army who will receive new gutters, landscaping, exterior paint, and safety repairs to his back porch.- Charlotte, N.C.: One hundred volunteers are partnering with House of Heroes to repair the homes of five veterans, including Billy Costello, a wounded veteran of the U.S. Army who is currently recovering at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. Team Depot volunteers will build a wheelchair ramp and install handicap fixtures, among other modifications, to make the house accessible for Billy’s return home
- Houston, Texas: More than 200 volunteers are working with Rebuilding Together to refurbish the homes of 10 veterans, including Elma “Joyce” Nelson, who served in the U.S. Army both stateside and in Germany from 1973 to1976. Team Depot volunteer projects will include installing a new roof and new siding; scraping, painting and caulking the entire outside of the wood frame home; and plumbing repair in the bathroom.
- Los Angeles: More than 200 volunteers are partnering with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles to repair the homes of 10 veterans, including Carlos Urbina-Tafoya, a Mexican immigrant who became a naturalized citizen at the age of 18 and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps after 9/11. Team Depot volunteers will provide landscaping and irrigation in the yard so the family, including Carlos’s two boys, will be able to play and spend time outdoors safely.
- Newark, N.J.: More than 100 volunteers are working with Jersey Cares to repair the homes of 10 veterans, including Freddy Brown, who served in the U.S. Army and National Guard from 1977 to 2011 during the Cuba and Iraq conflicts. He has two sons who are also serving our country. Team Depot volunteers will complete several projects at the Brown family home including replacing the ceiling in the living room and den, installing a new shower and kitchen cabinets, and fixing the front porch and back patio of the home.
Over the next four months, I (Trisha) will be partnering with The Home Depot as a part of The Home Depot Celebration of Service Blog Network! As part of this network, I will be talking about the challenges veterans face in our communities, participating in local service projects and events and exploring the steps that we can all take to reduce our home operating costs. Stay tuned as I share each month on the latest news from The Home Depot Foundation and the Celebration of Service projects.
Since its formation in 2002, The Home Depot Foundation has granted more than $300 million to nonprofit organizations improving homes and lives in local communities.
For more about today’s 100-home kickoff and updates on Team Depot’s activities throughout Celebration and to learn more and see The Home Depot associates in action, visit www.homedepotfoundation.org, follow The Home Depot Foundation on Twitter and like them on Facebook.