WINSTON-SALEM, NC —Employees from five local Lowe’s Home Improvement stores will join more than 60 community volunteers on Saturday, May 5 to volunteer their time and energy for several major projects benefiting Habitat neighborhoods.

Lowe’s store employees will join residents of the Boston Thurmond Neighborhood Association and other volunteers in erecting the first of four gateway signs and two community information boards. The signage incorporates new logos and branding created by the community and the four neighborhoods it encompasses, thanks to a $70,000 “catalytic” grant from Lowe’s to the BTNA and Habitat. The grant is also paying for materials that volunteers will use to begin building 40 raised beds in the Kimberley Park Community Garden.

The Lowe’s catalytic grant is part of $1.75 million in funding it has awarded across the country to support more than 84 Habitat Neighborhood Revitalization projects. This investment was intentionally made by Lowe’s to help communities execute goals their residents have set for themselves, rather than for Habitat’s traditional programs of homeownership and repair. The Boston Thurmond neighborhood was chosen because of its published Our Boston Thurmond neighborhood plan.

In Bowen Park, volunteer groups made up mostly of women will gather to build on two Habitat houses as part of Lowe’s National Women Build Week, which is taking place nationwide May 5-13. Women Build is an 11-year annual tradition in which Habitat and Lowe’s join together to mobilize thousands of women volunteers across the country to build on Habitat homes. About 18,000 women volunteers in 300 communities are expected to participate this year.

The Habitat/Lowe’s work day will begin with a kick-off ceremony at 7:30 a.m. at the Habitat campus, 1023 West 14th Street in Winston-Salem. Following that, volunteers will begin installing one of the gateway signs at the intersection of 13th and University Parkway, and two information boards in the Glenn Oaks and Kimberley Park neighborhoods. They will also start building the raised beds in the garden, which is located at Cherry and 17th streets. Work is expected to continue until 12:30 p.m.

Work at the Women Build site, which is at 2816 Ansonia Street in Winston-Salem, will begin about 8:30 a.m. and continue until about 3 p.m.

“We are so grateful to Lowe’s for their generous support in our community and around the U.S.,” said Habitat Executive Director Mike Campbell. “Through this program, we are able to improve conditions in neighborhoods help build strength, stability and self-reliance in communities.”

“Lowe’s shares Habitat’s vision that having a safe, stable home helps bring strength, security and pride to families and ultimately communities,” said James Frison, Lowe’s community relations director. “It’s important for us to support Habitat’s Neighborhood Revitalization program and help revive neighborhoods like Boston Thurmond and Bowen Park, making them places where people love to live.”

A national partner since 2003, Lowe’s has committed more than $63 million to Habitat for Humanity and helped more than 6,500 families improve their living conditions. Each year, Lowe’s provides grants and volunteer assistance to affiliates, supports National Women Build Week and conducts how-to clinics at stores to teach volunteers construction skills. 

 

About Habitat Forsyth

Since its founding in 1985, Habitat Forsyth has built, renovated or repaired about 475 homes for Forsyth County residents. Habitat provides homeownership opportunities for partner families who qualify and home repairs for low-income seniors, veterans and other homeowners who live in our target neighborhoods. Habitat programs help build quality affordable homes, help elderly safely age in place, and enhance the stability of neighborhoods.

 

About Lowe’s in the Community

Lowe’s, a FORTUNE® 50 home improvement company, has a 60-year legacy of supporting the communities it serves through programs that focus on K-12 public education and community improvement projects. In the past decade, Lowe’s and the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation together have contributed nearly $300 million to these efforts, and for more than two decades Lowe’s Heroes volunteers have donated their time to make our communities better places to live. For the latest news, visit Newsroom.Lowes.com or follow @LowesMedia on Twitter.