Home Depot’s Relief Fund Helps Veterans Recover from Superstorm Sandy
Home Depot® Foundation, the philanthropic arm of The Home Depot®, recently announced it will donate $1 million to the immediate relief, recovery and long-term rebuilding efforts in the Northeast in the wake Hurricane Sandy. Donations are immediately being issued to the Red Cross, Team Rubicon, and Operation Homefront:
Home Depot will give $250,000 to the American Red Cross for immediate disaster relief supplies and activities. This donation is in addition to the Foundation’s annual gift of $500,000 to the Red Cross’ disaster giving program, bringing the company’s total 2012 commitment to $750,000.
Home Depot also is providing the Red Cross with the following requested items for cleanup activities in New York and New Jersey:
- 5,000 metal/garden/stone/bow rakes
- 5,000 flat/transfer shovels
- 15,000 pairs of leather cowhide work gloves
Home Depot also announced it will give $100,000 to Team Rubicon to deploy special teams of U.S. military veterans to local communities in the Northeast. Team Rubicon trains and mobilizes veterans who have unique skills and deploys them in times of crisis. Teams are already on the ground in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Operation Homefront will also receive $150,000 for Operation Homefront’s Emergency Relief Fund which provides food, clothing and temporary shelter to service members and their dependents in the affected areas. According to Home Depot officials, the distribution of the remainder of the funds will be determined as events continue to unfold on the ground and damage assessments are made.
In addition to financial donations, Team Depot, the company’s associate-led volunteer force, is busy working with local authorities and nonprofit groups to assess damage and mobilize volunteers for cleanup activities. For Home Depot associates affected by the storm and experiencing unexpected financial difficulties as a result, The Homer Fund, a nonprofit charity funded by the company’s associates to provide emergency financial assistance to associates, has mobilized to help them and ensure their needs are met.
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. In 2011, The Home Depot Foundation focused its financial and volunteer resources to help nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving the homes of economically disadvantaged veterans. To date, the Foundation has committed $80 million to these efforts.
In 2011, The Home Depot Foundation committed $30 million over three years to nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving the homes of economically disadvantaged veterans — a pledge that was surpassed nearly a year ahead of schedule. This year, the Foundation is committing an additional $50 million over the next three years in an effort to ensure every veteran has a safe place to call home.
