Partnering with The Home Depot Foundation and the National League of Cities, Good360 is distributing 500 housewarming and tool kits to nonprofits serving military veterans. The Home Depot products were donated by The Home Depot Foundation (THDF) and then sorted into 500 kits—250 housewarming kits and 250 tool kits—by attendees at the National League of Cities (NLC) 2011 Congress of Cities & Exposition. The 500 housewarming and tool kits will be distributed to nonprofits serving military veterans across the nation. The tools were packed in a tool box and included hammers, box knives, pliers, wrenches, picture hanging kits, gloves and many other items needed on a day-to-day basis. Housewarming kits were packed in five-gallon buckets filled with household items such as towels, cleaning supplies, and trash bags. Check out the photographs from the event on our Facebook page.
“This is the second year the National League of Cities has partnered with Good360 to give our attendees a worthwhile service project that ultimately connects them with the community where we hold our conference each year. City officials from all over the nation helped sort and kit the free household and toolkit product donations for U.S. VETS-Phoenix and the many other nonprofits serving veterans in the United States,” said James E. Mitchell Jr., NLC President and Council member of Charlotte, N.C.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the latest studies show that more than 75,000 veterans are homeless on a typical night and about 135,000 spend at least one night a year in a homeless shelter. In fact, military veterans make up 8% of the U.S. population, but almost 16% of homeless adults. In an effort to eliminate homelessness among veterans by 2015, the VA recently announced a plan to transform its efforts in the fight against homelessness from a focus on temporary, shelter-based services, to a focus on prevention, employment, and permanent housing. The housewarming and tool kits include product donations of essential home items which will help veterans maintain their new homes.
“One of Good360’s goals is to provide thousands of nonprofits who help military families, veterans and active members with free product donations. We are thankful to have the support not only of THDF, but also the NLC and the attendees at the 2011 Congress of Cities, who made this service project and free product donations possible,” said Cindy Hallberlin, CEO and President of Good360.
The Home Depot Foundation’s participation stems from a longstanding commitment to the military and veteran communities. Earlier this year, THDF pledged a three-year, $30 million initiative to address veterans’ critical housing needs. The Foundation’s financial commitment will be amplified by associates from The Home Depot, who will also volunteer their time and home improvement know-how skills to projects across the country.
“We are excited to support Good360 and its mission to provide nonprofits with essential product donations,” said Kelly Caffarelli, President of The Home Depot Foundation. “This service project complements our pledge to help address veterans’ critical housing needs by giving veterans the day-to-day household items and tools that a family will need to maintain their new home.”
“The kits provided by Good360 will provide U.S.VETS with an opportunity to give our newest veterans a gift they can use the minute they come to our facility and to show them that we care,” said U.S.VETS- Phoenix, State Director, Hank Doss. “This is another great step in eliminating homelessness in Maricopa County, where there are 1,200 veterans who are homeless on any given day."
