Struthers AMVETS aiming to win $250K in online contest

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

STRUTHERS

AMVETS Post 44 is asking area residents to again vote on Facebook as the local veterans organization competes with 10 other organizations nationwide for $250,000 in the Home Depot Foundation’s Aprons in Action contest.

Post 44, the September 2012 winner of $25,000 in the Home Depot Foundation’s yearlong Facebook voting in the contest, is competing this month against 10 other finalists for the $250,000 grand prize.

Voting began at 9 a.m. Wednesday and ends at 11:59 p.m. May 31.

To vote, find Aprons in Action on the Home Depot Foundation’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/homedepotfoundation. Voting is available on home and mobile-device web browsers.

The organization with the most votes at the end of the month will win the grand prize. Organizations with the second- and third-most votes will receive $150,000 and $100,000, respectively.

Last fall, area voters pushed Post 44 to the top, winning one of Home Depot’s national qualifier monthly contests by just 48 votes over another veterans-focused organization in Texas.

AMVETS Post 44, which has established a program that hooks up veterans with potential employers, used the $25,000 to help renovate its post home at 305 Elm St. in Struthers.

“We are also grateful for the many hours donated by area Home Depot employees on several workdays at the post home. On one occasion, 65 Home Depot workers spent the day here landscaping and laying flooring and other projects,” said Jan Brown, Post 44 commander.

Brown said Post 44 is a newly designated Call of Duty Endowment (CODE) Career Center that helps service members transition to civilian careers after their military service.

It is in the crucial area of job preparation and placement and expansion of the training center that Brown said the Home Depot money would be used, should Post 44 win.

“Veterans Serving Veterans and the Community” is the motto of Post 44, Brown said.

“Our AMVETS CODE Career Center is open to all veterans, whether they are members of AMVETS or not. We hope to use any monies won to continue to grow and reach veterans in need of employment. So we encourage everyone to go on Facebook and vote for us,” she said.

The final percentages of votes for each nonprofit will be posted on the Home

Depot and the Home Depot Foundation’s Facebook pages June 1 at 9 a.m.

For information and to view the program rules, visit the Home Depot on Facebook or go to http://www.homedepotfoundation.org.

Across the country, the Home Depot associates give back to their communities by volunteering their time and talents with local nonprofit organizations, such as AMVETS Post 44, that support the nation’s veterans. Volunteers from Team Depot offer additional hours and supplies to each of the featured nonprofits in their communities through the Aprons in Action Program, said Kelly Caffarelli, president of the Home Depot Foundation.

“When the May contest finale concludes, the Home Depot Foundation will have completed its goal of donating $1 million to 44 deserving nonprofits to help them continue their service to support our country’s veterans,” she said.