The Home Depot Donates $300,000 to American Red Cross for Hurricane Relief and Preparation...

The Home Depot Donates $300,000 to American Red Cross for Hurricane Relief and
Preparation Efforts

ATLANTA, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Home Depot(R), the world's
largest home improvement retailer, today announced it has donated $300,000 to
the American Red Cross for Hurricane Gustav relief efforts along the Gulf
Coast and for preparation efforts for impending storms Hanna, Ike and
Josephine throughout the Southeastern U.S.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030502/HOMEDEPOTLOGO )
"Our neighbors in the Gulf Coast need our help," said Jeff Towers, chief
development officer at the American Red Cross. "The Home Depot responded to
this call, enabling the Red Cross to provide care, comfort and compassion to
the people affected by Hurricane Gustav and future storms. I want to thank
The Home Depot Foundation for using the Red Cross as their conduit of
compassion."
Separately, The Homer Fund, a charity for The Home Depot associates in
need of emergency financial assistance, donated $500,000 to 650 associates and
their families within the first 48 hours of Gustav's landfall. On Saturday,
volunteers from the Company activated the Homer Fund call center to respond to
and assist impacted associates with their immediate needs of safe housing and
other daily essentials.
"I am extremely proud of The Home Depot and what our associates have done
to help our communities, as well as each other," said Marvin Ellison,
executive vice president of U.S. Stores. "We take great pride in being there
for our communities during tough times, and we are committed to helping these
recovery efforts."
The Home Depot closed 31 stores in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas in
accordance with mandatory evacuations as a result of Hurricane Gustav. As of
this afternoon, 19 stores have been reopened. In an effort to give affected
associates the time they need following the storm, the Company has brought in
relief workers to help staff the stores in the affected areas. Thus far, the
Company has coordinated the transport and lodging for nearly 400 relief
associates.
The Home Depot(R) is the world's largest home improvement specialty
retailer, with 2,259 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces, Mexico and
China. In fiscal 2007, The Home Depot had sales of $77.3 billion and earnings
from continuing operations of $4.2 billion. The Company employs more than
300,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and
Standard & Poor's 500 index.
SOURCE The Home Depot

Financial Community, Diane Dayhoff, Sr. Vice President of Investor Relations,
+1-770-384-2666, diane_dayhoff@homedepot.com, or Media, Sarah Molinari,
Manager of Corporate Communications, +1-770-384-5504,
sarah_molinari@homedepot.com