L to R: Melissa Brown (Sr. Manager Marketing The Home Depot), Laz Alonso, Rickey Smiley, Kendall Tanner (Mississippi Valley State University representative), and Shannon Sharpe | PHOTO CREDIT: NIGEL DEGRAFF/ NIGEL D. PRESENTS

Home Depot Retool Your School Grant Program 

Home Depot is celebrating the 10^th year of their RETOOL YOUR SCHOOL Campus Improvement Grant program.  The grant program strives to give back to our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) what they have so generously given to their communities — a strong foundation, renewed purpose and distinctive character.

The RETOOL YOUR SCHOOL Grant Program winners were announced at an awards ceremony at The Home Depot Support Center in Atlanta, Georgia. HBCU Alumnus, NFL Hall of Famer and current co-host of FOX Sports show, Skip and Shannon: UNDISPUTED, Shannon Sharpe, was the Keynote Speaker and Rickey Smiley, HBCU Alumnus, comedian, and radio host served as the Winners’ Ceremony co-host.

Shannon Sharpe and Rickey Smiley

Both Shannon Sharpe and Rickey Smiley gave impassioned speeches about their time at their respective HBCU and what it meant to them.  Shannon Sharpe graduated from Savannah State University and Rickey Smiley attended Tuskegee University for one year and graduated from Alabama State University.  Both men detailed their life-changing experiences that the education at their school provided them and how it shaped them into the success stories they are today.

L to R: Shannon Sharpe, Laz Alonso, Rickey Smiley | PHOTO CREDIT: NIGEL DEGRAFF/ NIGEL D. PRESENTS

RETOOl YOUR SCHOOL Program Highlights

Melissa Brown, Senior Manager Marketing at The Home Depot, gave a presentation on how the program works and how the recipients are determined.  She also highlighted what Alabama State University did with the grant they received from The Home Depot Retool Your School Program in 2018 – – the much-needed renovation of their Medical Facility.  

HBCUs Receive $500,00 in Grants from The Home Depot

For the first time since the program launched, ten HBCUs were awarded a total of $500,000 in grants to make sustainable campus improvements across their campuses. Nine schools were given $50,000 each in grants based on consumer voting. The tenth $50,000 grant went to Tennessee State University for winning the first ever “Campaign of the Year Award” for its original, innovative and effective campaign.

The winning schools will begin their sustainable projects in the summer of 2019.

The audience showing their HBCU school spirit! | |PHOTO CREDIT: NIGEL DEGRAFF/ NIGEL D. PRESENTS

The 2019 Home Depot RETOOL YOUR SCHOOL $50,000 Grant Winners

Alabama A & M University    
Alcorn State University        
Coahoma Community College      
Fisk University
Jackson State University 
Lane College
Meharry M. College
Mississippi Valley State University
Southern University
Tenessee State University

For Details on the Selection Process: RETOOL YOUR SCHOOL

Autumn Murray and Shannon Sharpe

Autumn Murray with Rickey Smiley

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Author: Autumn Murray

Autumn has over 20 years of achievement in the hospitality industry where she was Director of Public Relations and Community Affairs for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). She is a locally published writer/author/editor for several Atlanta media outlets and is a leading contributor to Divine Lifestyle, an online lifestyle blog. Autumn is an abuse survivor and has a passion for writing about overcoming the obstacles of her past and sharing her experiences of how she is now thriving as a wife, mother, and entrepreneur. She hopes to help others see her vision that no matter what happened in the past, the present and the future is ours to shape into what we want it to be. Autumn believes in the mantra to Choose Love in every aspect of her life.

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