Associates Bring Cheer to our Communities

Home Depot associates give back to their communities all year, but these stories from the Holiday season are particularly jolly. Take a minute to read about just a few of our stores’ efforts, and then share your favorite stories about giving back during the holidays in the comments section below.

Moses Lake, Washington – Four kindergarten classes from a local school stopped by Home Depot Store 8966 in Moses Lake, Wash., to decorate the store’s community Christmas tree and meet Santa. The children brought more than 120 ornaments, along with their wish lists. Several Home Depot associates had visited the school the week before to help the children make the ornaments.

“We really wanted to give back to our community, and we figured the best way to do that is through the kids,” said Victoria, a Home Depot department supervisor.

The children enjoyed cookies and hot cocoa while waiting to talk to Santa. One of the teachers said the kids had been looking forward to visiting Home Depot.

“They’ve just been really excited,” she said. “It is so nice they are doing this for us. This is the first time some of the students have made ornaments and traveled on the bus to go on a field trip.”

College Station, Texas – Meanwhile, in College Station, Texas, associates from Home Depot Store 6559 helped celebrate Christmas with more than 600 second graders from 27 classrooms. Each class made ornaments and decorated trees that were given to local families in need.

Santa and Mrs. Claus helped Home Depot elves (Valorie, Cathy, Chris, Kim, Bill, Judy, Scott and Jessica) give out goodie bags to each student, as well as Kids Workshop kits to each teacher with information about the January workshops at our stores.

Colorado Springs, Colorado – Associates from five stores in Colorado Springs, Colo., (Stores 1504, 1510, 1518, 1538 and 1541) were out in force at a local Feed the Children event, and our mascot, Homer, joined Santa and Mrs. Claus at the party.

The stores stepped in again when the organizers ran out of boxes for the more than 1,500 families to carry home their turkeys, hams, toiletries and gifts. But 30 minutes later, two pallets of several hundred Home Depot moving boxes arrived, along with associates to assemble the boxes, help load them into the families’ cars and tie down the Christmas trees that some families had won. The organizers gave us extra space for our popular Kids Workshops, and 32 associates helped 700 children build toys and have fun.

Mobile, Alabama – The Grinch couldn’t steal Christmas for the residents of a home for children and adults with developmental disabilities in Alabama. When vandals destroyed many of the decorations at the Mulherin Custodial Home, Bobby Pendleton, store manager of Home Depot Store 865 in Mobile, immediately reached out to the Community Affairs department in Atlanta, which expedited a $1,200 grant to help.

Representatives from the home visited the store, grant in hand, to buy new decorations, and associates A.J., Aleesha, Sarah, Janet, Shay and Austin volunteered their time to put up the decorations for the residents to enjoy over the holidays. The store also donated supplies and toiletries.

Savannah, Georgia – For the last 12 years, customers at Home Depot Store 122 in Savannah, Ga., have been treated to an annual Christmas concert, courtesy of young carolers from local area schools.  Tanya, a Garden associate, coordinates the arrangements. This year, 10 schools, ranging from elementary to high school, came to the store. Some choirs sang along to a CD, some had keyboard or guitar accompaniment and one had a violinist.  One school brought the entire band! Store Expeditors Kandy and Andrea helped prepare the store for the students, who enjoyed cookies and punch after their performance. The local TV media filmed the event.

“Parents come into the store to watch their children, and customers enjoy having live singing in the store as they do their shopping,” said Amy, a Kitchen Designer.

Gillette, Wyoming – A Christmas tree decorated by associates from Home Depot Store 6005 in Gillette, Wyo., recently raised $6,250 for the local community when it was purchased by a local businessman. The store donated the tree to the city’s annual Festival of Trees, and 15 associates made red, white and blue ornaments, decorating the tree with a theme of “Celebrating our Heroes.”

“We were rewarded with a great amount of positive recognition in the community, through the newspaper and all of the people who saw the tree during the three-day event,” said Lindsey Chapman, Home Depot district HR manager.

In a patriotic gesture, the businessman then sent the fully decorated tree to the family of a local soldier who recently lost his life while serving in Iraq.

Reno, Nevada – District 116 in Nevada recently made a difference in the lives of more than 1,300 children. Associates from Home Depot Stores 3309, 3310, 3311, 3312, 3313 and 8560 teamed up with local businesses and the Washoe County Sheriff Department for Christmas on the Corridor, to help distribute gifts to children living in local motels.

For the last 13 years, the homeless families have known this is a safe day on the street for the children. More than half of the crowd who turned out to help were Home Depot associates who, along with their families, gave out blankets, toys and cookies.

All of the gifts are donated by local businesses. Mindy, a special services manager from Home Depot Store 3310 in Reno, said that some of the best gifts are simple items such as a new toothbrush. Spearheading the effort with Mindy were associates Deedee, Kate, Larry, Deanna, Clint, Greg, Robert, Jen, Mike and Steve, all from the various area Home Depot stores.

Hermitage, Pennsylvania – A design team from Home Depot Store 4130 in Hermitage, Pa., used their time and talents to build a 30-foot long float for the annual Hermitage Holiday Light Parade. Associates Linda, Paula, Cindy, Dave, Joe, Rob, KellySue, Bob, Robert, Jim and Tommy won the second place award for their “Santa Express.” The event was front page news in the local paper, and the parade drew a crowd of more than 22,000 people.

Payson, Arizona – At another parade, this time in Payson, Ariz., Home Depot Store 422 wowed the small-town crowd with their “Homer’s Peppermint Palace” float. which won first place! Judy, a Home Depot cross merchandiser, spearheaded the endeavor with our Mascot Homer (assistant store manager Mike) and his helper elf (Stephanie, a department supervisor), who fired up the crowd from atop the float.

Brantford, Ontario - And in Brantford, Ontario, 60 Home Depot Canada volunteers and their families helped with the local Christmas Basket Delivery Day. A generous Home Depot donation allowed the volunteers to provide turkeys to 100 families in need.

Share your stories below. Happy Holidays!