Grant will support Community Disaster Education presentations for St. Louis area residents
St. Louis, Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - The American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter today announced that it has received a $10,000 grant from The Home Depot®, the world's largest home improvement retailer, to support the Chapter's goal in 2008 of educating at least 80,000 St. Louis area residents through Community Disaster Education presentations. Red Cross Community Disaster Education prepares people of all ages for a variety of emergency situations, including fires, floods, earthquakes and tornados. This is the second consecutive year in which the chapter has been awarded a grant through this program.
The Home Depot/American Red Cross Chapter Grants Program is part of a three-year multi-million dollar strategic partnership between The Home Depot and the American National Red Cross to educate one million people in disaster preparedness and to support Red Cross disaster readiness efforts. The goal of reaching one million people was surpassed in year two of the partnership; however, The Home Depot and the Red Cross remain committed to building stronger and safer communities. In addition to the grant program, The Home Depot also provides year-round in-kind donations to local chapters for disaster relief efforts, in-store preparedness clinics developed with Red Cross expertise, and funding for Red Cross diversity and emergency services program manager training.
Nationwide last year, The Home Depot/American Red Cross Chapter Grants Program reached, trained and educated approximately 315,000 people. Specialized disaster preparedness programs included outreach to Somali, Latino, and Vietnamese young people and hearing-impaired communities.
"Last year, the St. Louis Area Chapter educated over 72,000 people regarding the importance of preparedness through free disaster education workshops and presentations," said Nicole Holtgrefe, director of preparedness and client services for the St. Louis Area Chapter.
"In the coming year, we aim to reach at least 80,000 community residents. The Home Depot grant will assist the St. Louis Area Chapter in achieving that important goal, and it directly supports the Red Cross mission to help the community prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies."
"The Home Depot has a history of being a champion for its communities and providing significant relief and recovery support immediately following a disaster," said Kelly Caffarelli, executive director of The Home Depot Foundation.
"By partnering with the Red Cross, we are providing our communities with additional tools to help them rebound quickly and completely."
As the world's largest home improvement retailer, The Home Depot embraces its role as a leader in social responsibility and celebrates its long-standing commitment to volunteerism. The Home Depot is passionate about helping its neighbors and communities during times of need. Another important component of The Home Depot's disaster relief program is to educate communities on the importance of disaster preparedness in order to help minimize the loss associated with these devastating events.
About The Home Depot:
The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,170 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, 10 Canadian provinces, Mexico, and China. Through its HD Supply (SM) businesses, The Home Depot is also one of the largest diversified wholesale distributors in the United States, with nearly 1,000 locations in the United States and Canada offering products and services for building, improving and maintaining homes, businesses and municipal infrastructures. In fiscal 2006, The Home Depot had sales of $90.8 billion and earnings of $5.8 billion. The Company employs approximately 355,000 associates and has been recognized by FORTUNE® magazine as the No. 1 Most Admired Specialty Retailer and the No. 13 Most Admired Corporation in America for 2006. Its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:HD) and is included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
About the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter:
Founded in 1917, the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter celebrates 90 years of dedicated service, providing emergency relief and preparedness training more than 410,000 times each year. The Red Cross is not a government agency and depends on the efforts of thousands of volunteers and donors to provide a wide range of community support services, including disaster relief, first aid and CPR training, water safety, services to military personnel and support for blood services. The Chapter, a United Way agency, provides programs and services to St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles County and Jefferson County in Missouri, as well as Monroe, St. Clair (including Scott Air Force Base) and part of Madison County in Illinois. All disaster relief services are provided free of charge thanks to the generosity of the American people. To learn more about Red Cross programs, volunteer opportunities, and how you can help, contact the St. Louis Area Chapter at 314.516.2800 or www.redcrossstl.org.
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