ATLANTA, Aug. 31, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- An alliance of major corporations and nonprofit organizations will mobilize more than 40,000 volunteers in 1,000 community service projects throughout the month of September to mark the second annual "Corporate Month of Service." The projects will address communities' most critical needs -- from hurricane recovery efforts to playground builds to school transformations. The month of service is a project of Hands On Network in partnership with KaBOOM!, numerous community organizations, and such corporations as The Home Depot(r), Jones New York, MASCO Corporation and UnitedHealth Group.
"Corporate Month of Service is part of a national movement to increase volunteerism by 10 percent, engage and train 100,000 volunteer leaders, and create immediate, tangible impact in three areas -- children and education, health and wellness and the environment," said Michelle Nunn, co-founder & CEO of Hands On Network. "In two years, we have doubled membership in our Corporate Service Council from 29 to 55 corporations, national nonprofit organizations and civic leaders, and we look for additional companies and organizations to help magnify our efforts in the coming year."
"During September, corporate employees, community organizations and individuals from all walks of life will become one unified force for positive change. In our service, we show that volunteerism is the common denominator that can effect immediate, positive change in communities," said Bob Nardelli, chairman, president & CEO of The Home Depot and co-chair of the Hands On Network Corporate Service Council.
Today, the month of activity kicks off at Miramar Park in Biloxi, Miss., where more than 500 volunteers from Hands On Network affiliate Hands On Gulf Coast, The Home Depot, KaBOOM! and the local community will join forces to construct a new playground and complete a number of improvement projects in the park and surrounding area.
"The year following the hurricane has taken a severe toll on communities of the Gulf Coast, particularly on children who have had their homes and schools destroyed," said Darell Hammond, CEO and co-founder of KaBOOM! "By having children design their dream playgrounds and residents coming together to build them, we are creating not only great places for children to play, but also a sense of community along the Gulf Coast."
Throughout September, corporations, nonprofit organizations, civic leaders and volunteers will lead and participate in hundreds of volunteer service projects involving hundreds of volunteers to create a significant and transformational impact in communities throughout North America, including:
-- Sept. 6 -- St. Louis: 200+ volunteers from St. Louis Cares and
The Home Depot will beautify the City of Duquesne Education
Center by constructing an outdoor pavilion, painting murals
inside the center and landscaping the grounds.
-- Sept. 14 -- Vancouver: 200+ volunteers from The Home Depot
and KaBOOM! will construct a new playground at the YMCA of
Greater Vancouver, South Slope.
-- Sept. 15 -- Boston: 200+ volunteers from Boston Cares and The
Home Depot will paint the interior and exterior of the Boys
& Girls Club of Greater Salem, remove debris and landscape
the grounds.
-- Sept. 20 -- Atlanta: 500+ volunteers from Hands On Atlanta, The
Home Depot and Jones New York will transform Avondale High
School with freshly painted walls and new murals, a relined
parking lot, refurbished benches, indoor planters and picnic
tables, and outdoor landscaping. The project is one of six
major school renovation projects across the country, including
Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia and San
Francisco. Teachers in five markets will receive a complete
Jones New York wardrobe and personal makeover as part of the
Jones New York in the Classroom Back to School, Back to Style
contest, which honors teachers and the important role they
fill in our children's education.
-- Sept. 21 -- Dover, Del.: Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home
Depot Chevrolet will join 200+ volunteers from The Home Depot,
Joe Gibbs Racing and KaBOOM! to build a new racing-themed
playground at the Boys & Girls Club of Delaware.
-- Sept. 25 -- New Orleans: Country music superstar Vince Gill will
join 200+ volunteers from The Home Depot, the Academy of
Country Music, Hands On New Orleans and the surrounding community
to build a KaBOOM! playground in one day at the relocated
International School of Louisiana campus in New Orleans.
The playground will be built in honor of Gill, the 2006
recipient of the Academy of Country Music/The Home Depot
Humanitarian Award.
-- Sept. 26 -- Washington, D.C.: 200+ volunteers from Greater DC
Cares and The Home Depot will paint, construct bleachers,
remove debris, renovate classrooms and build a tool storage
room at PR Harris Education Center, a school so large it needs
21 janitors but has a budget for only eight.
-- Sept. 27 -- New York: 500+ volunteers from New York Cares, The
Home Depot and Jones New York will paint walls, repaint faded
murals and fences, beautify the landscape, and refurbish the
playground and basketball courts at the Region Five Scholars'
Academy.
About Hands On Network
Hands On Network brings people together to strengthen communities through meaningful volunteer action. Hands On Network is a growing network of 62 volunteer organizations and more than a half million volunteers changing communities in and outside the United States. Hands On Network creates and manages nearly 50,000 projects a year from building wheelchair ramps in San Francisco to teaching reading in Atlanta, to rebuilding homes and lives in the Gulf Coast communities. The Hands On approach equips volunteers, creates leaders, and changes lives. For more information about Hands On Network, please visit www.handsonnetwork.org, or call (404) 979-2900.
About the Hands On Network Corporate Service Council
With a goal of harnessing the power of companies coming together, the Hands On Network Corporate Service Council Compact of 100 is focused around creating tangible change in communities via hands-on service. The Council includes CEOs from: 3M Company, AARP, Accenture, Action Without Borders-Idealist.org, America's Promise -- The Alliance for Youth, America's Second Harvest, AmeriCorps Alums, Anheuser-Busch Companies, BellSouth Corporation, The Case Foundation, Cbeyond Communications, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., ChoicePoint Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc., Civic Enterprises, LLC, Civic Ventures/ Experience Corps, The Coca-Cola Company, Countrywide Financial Corporation, Dell, Inc., Delta Air Lines, Inc., Discovery Communications, Inc., Earth Day Network, Fannie Mae, FedEx Corporation, General Electric Company, The Hitachi Foundation, The Home Depot, Inc., Jones Apparel Group, Inc., KaBOOM!, Kaiser Permanente, Kaneva, Inc., Manning, Selvage & Lee, MASCO Corporation, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, National Basketball Association, Novelis Inc., Nuclear Threat Initiative, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, Oglethorpe University, Piper Jaffray & Co., PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Qwest Communications International, Inc., Retail Industry Leaders Association, SAP America, Sprint Nextel Corporation, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., SWI Consulting, The Timberland Company, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., U.S. Chamber of Commerce, UnitedHealth Group, VolunteerMatch, WellPoint, Inc., Young & Rubicam Brands, and Yum! Brands, Inc.
About The Home Depot
The Home Depot(r) is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,087 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. Through its HD Supply(sm) businesses, The Home Depot is also one of the largest diversified wholesale distributors in the United States, with more than 900 locations in the United States and Canada offering products and services for building, improving and maintaining homes, businesses and municipal infrastructures. In fiscal 2005, The Home Depot had sales of $81.5 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. The Home Depot's 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 KaBOOM!
Celebrating its ten year anniversary in 2006, KaBOOM! is a national nonprofit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Over the past decade, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together business and community interests to construct nearly 1,000 new playgrounds, skateparks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America. KaBOOM! also offers a variety of resources, including a web portal and online community, regional and national trainings, grants and publications for communities that wish to plan a new playspace on their own. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago, Atlanta and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.
About Jones New York In The Classroom
Jones New York In The Classroom is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to improving the quality of education in America and inspiring others, both individuals and corporations, to do the same through support of teachers and vital teacher-based programs. For more information on Jones New York In The Classroom and their partners, please visit www.jnyintheclassroom.org.
About Jones Apparel Group
Jones Apparel Group, Inc. (www.jny.com), a Fortune 500 company, is a leading designer, marketer and wholesaler of branded apparel, footwear and accessories. We also market directly to consumers through our chain of specialty retail and value-based stores, and operate the Barneys chain of luxury stores. Our nationally recognized brands include Jones New York, Evan-Picone, Norton McNaughton, Gloria Vanderbilt, Erika, l.e.i., Energie, Nine West, Easy Spirit, Enzo Angiolini, Bandolino, Joan & David, Mootsies Tootsies, Sam & Libby, Napier, Judith Jack, Kasper, Anne Klein, Albert Nipon, Le Suit and Barneys New York. The Company also markets apparel under the Polo Jeans Company brand licensed from Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, costume jewelry under the Tommy Hilfiger brand licensed from Tommy Hilfiger Licensing, Inc. and the Givenchy brand licensed from Givenchy Corporation and footwear under the Dockers Women brand licensed from Levi Strauss & Co. Each brand is differentiated by its own distinctive styling, pricing strategy, distribution channel and target consumer. We primarily contract for the manufacture of our products through a worldwide network of quality manufacturers. We have capitalized on our nationally known brand names by entering into various licenses for several of our trademarks, including Jones New York, Evan-Picone, Anne Klein New York, Nine West, Gloria Vanderbilt and l.e.i., with select manufacturers of women's and men's products which we do not manufacture. For more than 30 years, we have built a reputation for excellence in product quality and value, and in operational execution.
About MASCO Corporation
Headquartered in Taylor, MI, MASCO Corporation (NYSE:MAS), founded in 1929, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of brand-name consumer products for the home and family. MASCO Corporation is also a leading provider of services that include the installation of insulation and other building products. Our products include faucets, kitchen and bath cabinets, architectural coatings (paints and stains), bath and shower units, spas and hot tubs, showering and plumbing specialties, windows and other builders' hardware. The Company's principal manufacturing facilities are located throughout the United States; international operations are located in Europe, China, Denmark, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
About UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group (www.unitedhealthgroup.com) is a diversified health and well-being company dedicated to making health care work better. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., UnitedHealth Group offers a broad spectrum of products and services through six operating businesses: UnitedHealthcare, Ovations, AmeriChoice, Uniprise, Specialized Care Services and Ingenix. Through its family of businesses, UnitedHealth Group serves approximately 70 million individuals nationwide.