The Home Depot Foundation Kicks Off Season of Giving by Saluting Veterans, Donating Up To $100,000 to Operation Homefront

ATLANTA, Dec. 2, 2013 /3BL Media/ – Home is a special part of the holiday season, but for the more than 3 million veterans living with a service-connected disability and the nearly 60,000 veterans who are homeless, home can be a challenge during the holidays and throughout the year. To help ensure our nation’s veterans have a safe place to call home, The Home Depot® Foundation will donate up to $100,000 to Operation Homefront this holiday season. Between #GivingTuesday (December 3) and New Year’s Eve (December 31), The Home Depot Foundation is inviting people to share their support for veterans by tweeting using #TeamDepot. During that time period, The Home Depot Foundation will donate $1 to Operation Homefront for each #TeamDepot tweet, up to $100,000.

“Veterans have given so much of themselves to ensure our freedom, yet so many face housing challenges – from accessibility to homelessness to maintenance,” said Kelly Caffarelli, president of The Home Depot Foundation. “We’ve committed $80 million over five years to ensure every veteran has a safe place to call home and partnerships with nonprofits like Operation Homefront are vital to achieving our mission.”

Operation Homefront is a national partner of The Home Depot Foundation and together the organizations have repaired, rehabilitated and retrofitted the homes of wounded warriors including:

• John Eichenberger, Army veteran and single amputee who served in Afghanistan – Kansas City, MO
• Jack Hill, post-9/11 Navy veteran who is 100 percent disabled – Albuquerque, NM
• Loyd Sawyer, Army Sgt. who suffered significant injuries including traumatic brain injury during his service in Iraq – Colonia Heights, VA

The Home Depot Foundation also supports Operation Homefront Villages where the families of wounded warriors live free of charge while their loved ones receive extended medical care and rehabilitation – often for six months to two years – near major military and VA hospitals in Washington, D.C., San Antonio, Texas, and San Diego, Calif.

For more about The Home Depot Foundation’s efforts to address veterans’ housing needs, follow The Home Depot Foundation on Twitter @homedepotfdn, #TeamDepot, and like on Facebook at www.facebook.com/homedepotfoundation.

About The Home Depot Foundation

The Home Depot Foundation is dedicated to improving the homes of U.S. military veterans through financial and volunteer resources to help nonprofit organizations. The Foundation has pledged $80 million to these efforts over five years, and since 2011 has invested more than $55 million to ensure every veteran has a safe place to call home.

Through Team Depot, the company’s associate-led volunteer program, thousands of Home Depot associates volunteer their time and talents to positively transform neighborhoods and perform basic repairs and modifications to homes and facilities serving veterans with critical housing needs.

Since its formation in 2002, The Home Depot Foundation has granted more than $340 million to nonprofit organizations improving homes and lives in local communities. To learn more and see our associates in action, visit www.homedepotfoundation.org.

About Operation Homefront

About Operation Homefront: A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront leads more than 4,500 volunteers with nationwide presence who provide emergency and other financial assistance to the families’ service members and wounded warriors. Operation Homefront has met more than 750,000 needs of military families since its inception in 2002. Nationally, 95 percent of total donations to Operation Homefront go directly to programs that provide support to our military families. For more information, go to www.OperationHomefront.net.

Media Contacts:

Lisa Walsh, The Home Depot Foundation

770-384-4281 or Lisa_Walsh@homedepot.com

Ben Owens, The Home Depot Foundation

770-433-8211 x 84133 or Benjamin_Owens@homedepot.com