Lowe's, Rebuilding Together Team Up to Weatherproof Homes for the Holidays

Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation donates $7,000 to help low-income families stay warm and reduce energy bills

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rebuilding Together Nashville and Lowe's are joining forces to help low-income families stay warm this holiday season.

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On Saturday, October 16 Lowe's, Rebuilding Together Nashville and Hands On Nashville will help weatherproof a home for a Nashville family.

The project is being made possible by a $7,000 grant from the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation. Throughout the fall, Rebuilding Together's Weatherization Initiative will focus on reducing heating bills and making homes more energy efficient. Other funding will support nearly 70 home weatherization projects across the country.

In addition to focusing on reducing energy builds, flood damage repairs will also be made for this Nashville family.

"Our partnership with Lowe's has provided us with extensive support, resources and volunteers to bolster the quantity and quality of our work," said Gary A. Officer, President and CEO of Rebuilding Together. "This fall we look forward to all the community improvements that will occur across the country because of Lowe's unwavering commitment to serving low-income homeowners."

Rebuilding Together and Lowe's have been working together since 2007, and nearly 370 rebuild projects have been successfully completed across the country through the partnership.  The Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation has awarded $4 million to Rebuilding Together, allowing both organizations to make a difference in communities by providing safe, warm, dry and energy-efficient homes to homeowners in need.

"Lowe's is in the business of helping people improve and maintain their homes," said Larry D. Stone, chairman of the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation. "We are proud to partner with Rebuilding Together to renovate and modify homes for some of our communities' most vulnerable residents. Lowe's shares Rebuilding Together's commitment to creating a safe and comfortable environment to accommodate a homeowner's special needs."

Rebuilding Together Nashville and Hands On Nashville are committed to restoring 75 flood-damaged homes with support from Lowe's and others, including the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.  By Oct. 16, volunteers will have completed 29 homes with Hands On Nashville and Rebuilding Together Nashville, supplying an average of $10,000 in construction materials, as well as skilled and unskilled volunteer labor for each home.

ABOUT REBUILDING TOGETHER NASHVILLE

The mission of Rebuilding Together Nashville is to preserve and revitalize houses and communities, assuring that low-income homeowners, particularly those who are elderly and disabled and families with children, live with warmth, safety and independence. Rebuilding Together Nashville focuses on helping families in Davidson County and 10 surrounding counties. Rebuilding Together Nashville has two programs that we are currently running, a General Repair and Flood Relief Program. The Flood Relief Program has Rebuilding Together Nashville partnered with Hands on Nashville to repair 75 flood damaged homes.  The General Repair Program occurs every spring and fall. With the help of sponsors and several hardworking volunteers, Rebuilding Together Nashville rebuilds multiple homes within the local area. For more information, visit http://rebuildingtogethernashville.org.

ABOUT LOWE'S

Lowe's is a proud supporter of Rebuilding Together, American Red Cross, SkillsUSA/Skills Canada, and The Nature Conservancy, in addition to numerous non-profit organizations and programs that help communities in North America. In 2009, Lowe's and the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation together contributed more than $30 million to support community and education projects in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Lowe's also encourages volunteerism through the Lowe's Heroes program, a company-wide employee volunteer initiative. Lowe's is a FORTUNE® 50 company with fiscal year 2009 sales of $47.2 billion and has more than 1,725 stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico.  For more information, visit Lowes.com/socialresponsibility.

ABOUT HANDS ON NASHVILLE, INC.

Founded in 1991, Hands On Nashville (HON) is Middle Tennessee's only volunteer resource center and one of the largest Hands On Network affiliates. HON connected 38,969 volunteers to service in 2009 and offers volunteer projects 365 days a year. In response to the recent flooding, HON has placed more than 19,000 volunteers in recovery roles since May 2. To find out more or to volunteer, visit www.hon.org.

ABOUT REBUILDING TOGETHER

Rebuilding Together is the nation's leading nonprofit organization working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize neighborhoods by providing extensive rehabilitation and modification services to those in need at no cost to those served.  With the help of everyday citizen volunteers, skilled trades people, the support of local business and major corporate partners, Rebuilding Together affiliates in America's largest cities and smallest towns make life considerably better for thousands of low-income homeowners and the communities in which they live by completing 10,000 projects per year. Rebuilding Together has programs dedicated to, energy efficiency, veteran's housing, aging in place and gulf coast reconstruction. 

For more information, visit www.RebuildingTogether.org. You can also follow Rebuilding Together on Twitter @rebldgtogthr or become a fan on Facebook at Facebook.com/RebuildingTogether. 

SOURCE Rebuilding Together