Since its launch, the Aprons in Action program has been a successful and fun component of our giving programs. By activating our social network of support, Aprons in Action has provided us the opportunity to not only invest in our nonprofit partners, but also highlight the great work that our associates do in communities across the country.

As part of the program, each month, four nonprofits compete for votes on Facebook to win a $25,000 Home Depot gift card to complete a renovation project with their Team Depot partners.  In true Home Depot spirit, no organization goes home empty handed. The three runners up win a $5,000 Home Depot gift card. Each year culminates with a grand prize competition where the 11 monthly winners compete for a total of $500,000 ($250,000, $150,000 and $100,000 respectively.)

We’re excited to be half way through our second and final grand prize competition. Right now, the following organizations and partner stores are competing for the grand prize:

• Volunteers of America Greater Ohio & Store #6954 (Columbus, OH)
• Stiggy’s Dogs  & Store #2751 (Howell, MI)
• AMVETS Post 44  & Store #3805 (Struthers, OH)
• Michigan Veterans Foundation  & Store #2718 (Detroit, MI)
• Low Income Housing Institute & Store #4703 (Seattle, WA)
• VFW Post 2777 &  District #244 (Burton, MI)
• The 313 Project  & Districts #033, #194, #218, #243, and #245 & (Detroit, MI)
• Grand Rapids Home for Veterans  & District #275 (Grand Rapids, MI)
• Active Heroes  & Stores #2305, #2301, #2313, #2002, #2307, #2016, #2302, #2316, #2021 (Louisville, KY)
• Saratoga County RPC – VETHELP  & District #16 (Ballston Spa, NY)

“During Aprons in Action, we have the privilege of working with veterans organizations to elevate awareness of the work they do and award them with funds to continue their efforts,” said Kelly Caffarelli, president of The Home Depot Foundation. “When the May contest finale concludes, The Home Depot Foundation will complete its goal of donating $2 million to 88 deserving nonprofits to help them continue their service to support our country’s veterans.”

To learn more about this year’s competing nonprofits and vote for the FINAL grand prize winner of Aprons in Action, log on to apps.facebook.com/apronsinaction!

The Community Building Invitationals, our annual fundraisers, are always a sight to be seen. Hundreds of orange blooded vendors join with us to donate their time and talent to help our nonprofit partners.

On April 24, in partnership with Volunteers of America, the nearly 200 person orange army assembled at the American Legion Post 29 in Miami, FL ready to complete a large exterior and interior renovation and garden project. In just one day, volunteers landscaped the front and back of the building, painted the front of the building, renovated the entryway, re-floored the auditorium, repaved the parking lot and built a new gazebo in the rear of the facility.

American Legion members not only enjoyed working with us, they were extremely grateful for the work being done. One veteran told a volunteer, “I have not felt this appreciated since I came home from the Vietnam War. Thank you for caring for our veterans.”

We are continually inspired by the generosity of our vendor partners and associates. Their numerous contributions are essential to our ability to accomplish our mission to ensure that every veteran has a safe place to call home.

“It’s truly inspiring to see the commitment and care our associates and vendor volunteer show our veterans and partner organizations,” said Heather Pritchard, National Grants Manager. “The work they complete in just one day creates a lifetime of impact those who have served us all.”

For more information on The Home Depot Foundation’s commitment to veterans, click here.

Volunteers re-floor the American Legion’s auditorium.

As a husband/wife or parent of active military, juggling deployments, cross-country moves and, many times, children and grandchildren, it is safe to say these folks have taken on more than many of their peers. We recognize that being left behind to handle children, a job and a house is no easy task. Then, having the constant worry and stress of being separated from your family member, makes it a seemingly impossible task.

But, we know that tens of thousands of people are doing it every day and luckily, there are people who deeply care about making it not only possible, but a little easier, too.  We were extremely honored to meet many of those people and organizations at this summit.

We think that we can certainly play an important role in this effort…that part of our work at The Home Depot Foundation is to make sure people don’t forget those who are currently serving, those who have served in the past, and the families that serve with them.  As we move forward from this event, we leave strengthened and empowered to continue to ensure that every veteran…and his/her family…has a safe place to call home.

No matter the size of your city, we are seeing common challenges for veterans across the country.  The issues veterans are facing today include permanent housing, employment, and health issues.  The challenges and gaps in services include access to permanent supportive housing; outreach to veterans living in rural areas; serving the housing needs of female veterans; reducing the amount of time it takes to place a veteran who is homeless into stable housing; and access to employment.

National League of Cities saw the importance of giving our military communities a voice and created a Military Communities Council.  The Council is a space for elected officials to come together and discuss issues facing current military and veterans and find solutions that will help veterans thrive in their community.  They focus on many veteran and military family issues around providing jobs, housing, education and  health care.  The network has also provided an excellent channel and connection for the veteran housing work NLC is currently doing in partnership with The Home Depot Foundation

The Home Depot Foundation is working in partnership with NLC to create awareness among our elected officials through educating them on the issues facing veterans and establishing a strong network of partners providing direct services to veterans. Veteran homelessness cannot be solved by one entity – it takes all of us working collaboratively to find viable solutions to house our heroes and protect them the way they selflessly have protected us.

We thank our partners for their ongoing work and commitment. Together we will ensure every veteran has a safe place to call home.

- Heather Pritchard, Manager of National Partnerships, The Home Depot Foundation

Photo Credit: Steve Schneider Photography

Speaking at the Capitol Hill event entitled, “Refocusing Your Future,” she said what helped in her transition from the Army was understanding, “We have leadership skills that we take with us.”  After more than eight years as a Soldier, she re-oriented her priorities to be a better parent.

“I needed to make sure my son felt safe,” Stipe said as part of a panel on looking to civilian careers, but leaving the military “took me out of my comfort zone” of having some career decisions made for her.  What she discovered was, “I could create my own action plan.

Before she joined Home Depot in 2004, she said, “I tore up my resume 50 different times” in her search for a veteran-friendly company to work for.

“Home Depot is much like the military” in that, among other things, it “believes in the team dynamic.”  Stipe said the company employs 35,000 veterans and 1,500 service members who are on active duty at any given time. Easing veterans into Home Depot’s workforce are programs like “I Care” which offer counseling for employees. “All very private,” she said.  The company also has a military affinity organization allowing veterans “to get together and talk” in a social setting.

She made particular mention of the Home Depot Foundation’s work in assisting veterans with their housing needs. The Home Depot Foundation was a leading sponsor of the symposium and Hall of Fame luncheon.

Fred Wacker, Chief Operating Officer of The Home Depot Foundation, said that the foundation’s mission is to ensure “Every veteran has a safe place to call home.” It is putting $80 million over five years to support these efforts and not-for-profit organizations that repair and rehabilitate housing for veterans and their families.

“We couldn’t do that without our service providers,” Wacker said.

In introducing the Hall of Fame portion of the program, Wacker said those being honored–Gen. Ann Dunwoody, USA, Ret., the first female four-star general; the Army nurses who served in the Korean War; and the first female command sergeant major, Yzetta Nelson and first female sergeant major, Carolyn Jones–“are some pretty amazing women” deserving of their induction into the AWF’s Hall of Fame.

One of the first Hall of Fame inductees was Brig. Gen. “Pat” Foote, USA, Ret. Speaking to ScoutComms, she said events such as the symposium and luncheon, now in their fifth year, were important in showing “corporate America and political America the skills that Army women have.”

“The job market is so tight,” so emphasizing the special qualities and skills military experience can bring to a job, from time management to leadership, is important. She was particularly proud of the Army Women’s Foundation being able to offer 29 scholarships this year up from 15 last year.

“Education, the symposium work so well for us, I hope this goes on forever,” Foote said.

“We must make sure that our vets know that there are opportunities for them in the public and private sector,” Stipe said.

- John Grady, ScoutComms

Click here to visit ScoutComms Blog.

Beryle Stipe, The Home Depot associate and U.S. Army veteran

Fred Wacker, COO of The Home Depot Foundation, greets Congressman Randy Forbes

According to the article, “returning servicewomen are facing a battlefield of a different kind: they are now the fastest growing segment of the homeless population, an often-invisible group bouncing between sofa and air mattress, overnighting in public storage lockers, living in cars and learning to park inconspicuously on the outskirts of shopping centers to avoid the violence of the streets.”

What makes all of this worse: one-third of homeless female veterans live with their minor children, making it difficult to find transitional housing. That’s why The Home Depot Foundation has taken a special interest in this issue.

We are partnering with organizations such as U.S.VETS and Volunteers of America and activating Team Depot, our associate volunteer corps, to provide safe and comfortable homes for these veterans who have sacrificed so much to serve our country.

One project we are particularly excited about is in partnership with U.S.VETS in Long Beach, California.  Together we will help renovate a former naval housing site into transitional housing and supportive services for female veterans and their families.

Also, just a couple months ago, Team Depot transformed the home of Tonja Millberry, a veteran, mother of two and cancer survivor. The renovation of her living area, bathroom and flooring not only removed a long-term financial burden, but also increased the family’s overall morale.

As we move forward in our efforts, we know that we all must continue to work together and leverage our resources to improve housing conditions for female veterans and their families. It’s the right thing to do and a challenge we gladly accept.

From now through August 13, nonprofit organizations that are interested in using volunteers to help improve their community for veterans and their families can apply for a grant up to $5,000, provided in Home Depot gift cards, to purchase tools, materials or services from The Home Depot.

See what our 2012 Community Impact Grant recipients are saying:

Liberty Manor for Veterans – Tampa, FL

“On behalf of the veterans at Liberty Manor, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to you for the benevolent donation that you made to our honorably discharged veterans. Your efforts certainly merit a Certificate of Appreciation and we are proud to recognize you for your generosity. These are former soldiers who have served our country, fought for our independence, and today, fallen victim to homelessness. This initiative offers us the grand opportunity to pay homage in a significant way. All contributions made to the Liberty Manor initiative are sure to be enjoyed for years to come as we are investing in a soldiers future.”

Arizona Art Alliance – Phoenix, AZ

“Thank you again for support of our new Veteran Outreach Program. Since our Ribbon Cutting Event, we have been asked by several organizations to help honor our veterans including the city of Phoenix by displaying veterans art around the community and in City Hall. Much of this notoriety is due to your grant, making it possible to provide a large classroom for purposes of applying the healing qualities of art to veterans. We are grateful to The Home Depot Foundation team for their generosity and supporting our veterans.”

Easter Seals New Hampsire – Manchester, NH

“On behalf of Easter Seals NH, thank you for the generous award in Home Depot gift cards to help us provide veterans vital home repair and weatherization services. This gift came at a critical time as veterans were preparing for winter weather. Military families often have emergencies that occur before or during employment and that leave their spouses to deal with them alone. The Home Depot Foundation’s support assisted in providing a quick resolution to the critical housing needs faced by service members, such as plumbing and roof repairs, winterization of homes, flood damage clean up, and repairs of snow blowers.”

Join us and help create a safe, comfortable and stable community where veterans can succeed. To apply for a 2013 Community Impact Grant now, click here.

Below is The Home Depot Foundation’s six-step approach to CSR.  You’ll see that for us it’s pretty simple: Get Dirty and Do Good.

1.) DO WHAT YOU KNOW

Our business is all about doing. Our associates are some of the most sought after volunteers around, because when they show up at a project, people know that they know how to build, repair, and improve things. It’s in their DNA. So, one of the basic requirements of our associate volunteer program is that our projects leave behind a physical improvement. When we leave, people have to be able to see that we were there.

2.) BE TRUE TO YOUR CULTURE

The Home Depot is a values-based business.  Our founders Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blake established our eight values nearly 35 years ago, and we still live by them today. Three of our values relate directly to the work our Foundation does: Giving Back, Doing the Right Thing and Building Strong Relationships.

Bust as we all know, it’s not a list of values that makes you stand out; it’s how you live out those values every day. And these values truly mean something to us. Our associates completed more than 1,000 volunteer projects across the country last year.

3.) KNOW YOUR CONSTITUENTS

The Home Depot’s organization is based on an inverted pyramid. Instead of everything flowing down from top management, everything we do is guided by the needs of our primary constituents: our 300,000 front line associates and our customers. That’s why our associates and customers are at the top of the pyramid and our CEO is at the bottom. We are here to serve them.

We take this to heart at the Foundation, as well. While we provide guiding principles to our stores and our Team Depot captain, they know their towns, so it’s their choice about which community projects to take on locally. Our job is to help them with the resources they need to accomplish what is important to their community.

4.) LISTEN

At The Home Depot, we pride ourselves in truly listening to our associates.  Our product donation program, Framing Hope, is one of the best examples of that. It is the result of submissions our associates sent to a program we have to solicit their comments, ideas and complaints – and that requires that they be answered.  In this case, our associates told us that we should stop throwing away unsold products and instead, donate them to people in the community who need them.

And the solution of creating a program to provide this merchandise to local nonprofits was a win all the way around: for the Company, the Community, our Suppliers and our Associates – from a financial standpoint and a reputational one.  To facilitate this program, we’ve been partnering with Good360 since 2008. Since its implementation, we have donated $150 million in products to 1,600 nonprofits, decreasing their costs to maintain and renovate housing units and keeping tons out of our landfills.

5.) COMMIT

By considering our resources, culture and constituents together, we were able to create a philanthropic focus that is successful primarily because it’s credible and authentic.  Our newest initiative and primary focus is to ensure that every veteran has a safe place to call home.  It’s a cause we believe in and that we are committed to.  We’ve pledged $80 million over five years and have partnered with great nonprofits like Operation Homefront, Volunteers of America and Fisher House Foundation among others.

Similarly, we support our communities before and after natural disasters. It’s something we’ve always done because we have the products needed to prepare and protect homes when a storm is brewing, and to clean up and repair after a storm strikes.  We talk a lot about the major hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, but we are working in communities almost every week when a disaster strikes in an area that may not get national attention – it’s what our associates do without being asked.

6.) COMMUNICATE

Communicating internally and externally about CSR efforts is critical to reputation, to employee morale, to government relations and just about anything you can think of.  It is important to remember that all of these communications initiatives are also about education. It’s about getting people to care about issues that truly affect our daily lives and can sometimes mean the difference between life and death for some.

If people don’t care about the problems you are working to address, then they aren’t going to care about what you are doing to be part of the solution. Telling a story through traditional media, social media and internal channels that educate, enlighten and lift up individuals and communities as a whole makes a difference for your company at the same time.  Healthy communities = healthy business.

Frank Noble in his new kitchen

“Seeing how Frank can now move around his home with ease and comfort and how lovely it still looked several months after the Celebration of Service October project was both inspiring and exciting. According to Frank, he’s also able to do something that he really loves, which is to cook a “pot of beans or greens” in his new kitchen.

Thanks to the continual visits by Volunteers of America Colorado and our local Home Depot stores, I wasn’t surprised to see Frank’s home in such great shape. What I did not expect was that the Frank we visited this week was totally different than the Frank we met last October.

The best way to explain it is that last year’s Frank was reserved, a bit un-kempt, and appeared to have given up on life after losing his mother the previous year. The Frank we visited this week had a special glow about him that was simply not there several months ago.

Frank now talks proudly of his home, his life, and his time in the Army. He’s chatty and jokes a lot. He’s already planning fishing trips, renewing a hobby which he hasn’t participated in in years. And when we were leaving, Frank offered generous hugs (for the ladies) and said he loved having visitors.

I only wish that every Home Depot associate and manager involved in that COS project could see that not only did they repair his home, they also gave Frank an entire new outlook on life: one of personal Hope, Renewal, and Revitalization.”

- Sherry Caraway, The Home Depot Foundation Field Manager – Western Division

Frank with Sherry Caraway and Heather Pritchard

Joe McFarland, Western Division President for The Home Depot and Gulf War Veteran, greeted the wounded warriors as they finished their swims. “There is a sense of pure happiness on their faces. These are experiences that they will remember for the rest of their lives and I am so glad that we are able to provide this program to those who have sacrificed so much for our country.”

This special day was just one of many that will be available to Wounded Warriors from around the area.  As part of our commitment to veterans and their families, the Foundation has partnered with the Georgia Aquarium to make this opportunity available to hundreds of veterans and their families who could benefit from this type of therapeutic experience.

Wounded Warriors from Ft. Bragg preparing to swim with the gentle giants.

Fort Bragg’s wounded warriors brave the waters of the Georgia Aquarium, home to a variety of fish, manta rays and the famous whale sharks.

Joe McFarland, Western Division President and Gulf War Veteran, talks with one of the Wounded Warriors from Ft. Bragg.