Congratulations to Lowe’s Home Improvement of Glen Allen – winner of the 2019 Governor’s Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Corporate Volunteer Program! For more than a decade, Lowe’s has been committed to serving the communities of its customers. Through the Lowe’s Heroes project, employees adopt a volunteer project with a local nonprofit organization or K–12 public school. Since the inception of the volunteer program, Lowe’s Heroes have participated in more than 1,300 projects and have contributed more than $1.3 million in materials. Last year, 14 stores in the Richmond area teamed up to serve the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls (VHBG) by renovating kitchens in four group homes. Volunteers completely transformed each kitchen and even plumbing and drywall where needed. In addition to the kitchens, volunteers painted all of the common areas, steam cleaned carpets, assembled and moved furniture, power washed the outside of the homes and walkways, and painted every wall in the elementary school. They even cleaned the school kitchen, organized supplies, and donated and installed rubber mulch in the playground. It was a complete transformation!
Lowe’s volunteers continued their relationship with the VHBG following the project, helping to install new appliances in a home that will welcome youth who have aged out of foster care, facilitating the repairs of their bell tower, donating time and materials to carpet two classrooms, and even offering to help their youth achieve success through employment opportunities and training programs.
Youth and staff will benefit for years to come from the physical improvements Lowe’s Heroes made, including the countless meals that will be served and the many hours that will be spent teaching students in a more tranquil environment. This project will also enable VHBG to devote a larger portion of their budget to their critical mission of helping youth across Virginia with emotional and behavioral health concerns. Lowe’s is truly a corporate leader which encourages its staff to be generous with their time, talent, and hearts. Their contributions to this project, in addition to the decades of other service efforts, are making a tremendous difference in the Richmond community.