Team Depot – New Child Care Center Playground

Team Depot – Managed by The Home Depot Foundation

Recently I had the pleasure of seeing first hand some of the great community projects that The Home Depot and its associates do. Team Depot is the Company’s associate led and managed volunteer force that meets community needs through hands-on service.  Team Depot volunteers have contributed millions of hours of volunteer service to communities throughout North America.

As many of you know I’m a huge supporter of local lumber yards and hardware stores. Often times I find myself torn about my feelings with regard to the impact that large box stores like The Home Depot have on the smaller local stores. However, after seeing Team Depot in action a few weeks ago I’m very impressed with their commitment to local communities.

A Much Needed New Playground

My youngest child attends a local day care center. The Sugar River Valley Child Care Center is located in Claremont, NH. This non-profit organization had a large outdoor fenced area for young children to play. The area included a large garden, play structures and numerous toys. However, a large portion of the area was actually built on top of asphalt pavement which doesn’t exactly make for soft falls and crashes!

Over the course of 2 days Team Depot completely transformed the children’s playground into an exciting new and refreshing area. According to Andrew Collin (Claremont Home Depot Store Manager), 20 Home Depot associates from around District 237 volunteered their time and hearts. The project included the following:

• A new roof covered stage for special performances by the children.
• 40 foot long post fence
• New sod for the entire playground
• Slip resistant play mats
• New paint on two existing play houses
• 350 feet of new bike/walking path
• Five new flower boxes
• Walkway bridge
• Updated the vegetable garden
• Planted mums and blueberry bushes
• Three retaining wall planters
• New wood chips under all the play structures
• New 40 ft by 12ft sand box play area

Thank You Team Depot!

The Home Depot Foundation supplied a $9,100 grant to purchase all the materials. The associates donated their time and talents to make this project a reality.

For me the true test of this generous gift was the smiles on the young children. My daughter and all of her classmates were so thrilled to play on the new grass and explore the new playground. I’m sure this new playground will be a wonderful addition to the child care facility and a great place for the children to explore.

Child care centers around the country continue to close as financial support dwindles. So having a generous gift like this is certainly greatly needed and surely appreciated. Keep your eyes open in your neighborhood for a gang dressed in orange, it just might be Team Depot spreading some more generosity!