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The Home Depot Announces the 2018 Retool Your School Grant Program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)

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The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, today announced its 2018 Retool Your School Grant Program. Now, in its ninth year, the program awards accredited Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) grants to use toward creating sustainable renovations and additions to their campuses.

The Home Depot has awarded $1.8 million to HBCUs since the program launched in 2009.

Schools seeking to participate in the contest can enter in either of two ways.

  1. A nomination process for HBCU faculty, staff, students and community supporters to nominate their HBCU to participate in the program via Twitter and/or Instagram using the school’s sponsor-provided hashtag, which can be found at retoolyourschool.com. Accredited HBCUs with a minimum of 100 nominations will thenqualify to enter the voting period.
  2. Schools may accept the nomination or opt-in to the program via the nomination application link found in the eBlast to each of the school’s President and Point of Contact. Within the nomination application, a school administrator must provide primary contact information and official school logo to be included on the website for voting.

Nominations must be submitted between January 29, 2018 at 12:00 a.m. (midnight) EST and February 22, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. EST, to enter the voting period.

Voting begins February 26, 2018 at 12:00 a.m. (midnight) and ends April 15, 2018 at 11:59pm.

During the voting period, there are two ways to vote.

  1. Votes can be cast an unlimited number of times online at www.retoolyourschool.com
  2. Useyour school’s unique, designated hashtag to cast unlimited social votes through Twitter and Instagram (hashtags can be found at retoolyourschool.com).

Nine schools receiving the highest number of votes during the voting period will advance to the final round and submittheir campus improvement project proposals. A panel of distinguished judges will evaluate each school’s proposal.

Judges will consider the quality of each proposal and the school’s ability to execute the project within the specified budget. Proposals for all three grant levels must highlight how each project will make a lasting, positive impact on the HBCU campus.

A total of $360,000 will be granted to the nine HBCUs with winning proposals. The schools will be categorized in one of three clusters, based on each school’s student population. Each cluster will have three winners vying for one $50,000, one $40,000 and one $30,000 grant.

The breakdown is as follows: Cluster 1 is open to schools with a student enrollment of 4,000 students or more; Cluster 2 is open to schools with a student enrollment of 1,201–3,999 students; and Cluster 3 is open to schools with1,200 students or less.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Mayat The Home Depot headquarters in Atlanta, GA.

TheHome Depot Retool Your School Grant Program, launched in 2009, encourages and recognizes innovative projects that contribute to the campuses of accredited HBCUs. Since the program’s inception, more than $1.8million in grant money has been awarded to HBCUs to make sustainable improvements to their college campuses.

Set to celebrate a milestone 10th year in 2019, The Retool Your School Program continues to align with initiatives that celebrate the legacy and sustainability of HBCUs. In 2017, the program provided corporate support to the HBCU 9 Sesquicentennial Celebration, a partnership between the Department of Education’s White House HBCU Initiative, the US Department of Agriculture, and the Arbor Day Foundation to celebrate nine HBCUs that turned 150.

This year, the Retool Your School program, in partnership with the African American Film Critics Association,will present the inaugural 72-Hour Build a Film Challenge, a contest for HBCU filmmakers— currently enrolled students and alums—to create unique and entertaining short films about the HBCU experience. The winner will be revealed at this year’s African American Film Critics Association Awards February 7,in Los Angeles.

“Each year, we see continued growth and engagement with the program,” says Melissa Brown, Senior Marketing Manager at The Home Depot. “The Retool Your School program stimulates anunrivaled culture of community. We are proud to support our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and value their rich legacy and ongoing contribution to our nation’s history.”

For more information on The Home Depot Retool Your School Grant Program, visit www.retoolyourschool.com.

AboutTheHomeDepot®

The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,284 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico.  In fiscal 2016, The Home Depot had sales of $94.6 billion and earnings of $8.0 billion. The Company employs more than 400,000 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.

 

We Speak Actors

Sophia Eleni stars with John Rhys-Davies in new horror film ‘Bone Keeper’

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London-based actress Sophia Eleni has appeared in a number of popular TV series including ‘Call The Midwife’ and ‘Casualty’, and she’s soon to appear on the big screen as  one of the lead cast members in horror film ‘Bone Keeper’. ‘Bone Keeper’ follows six young friends who enter remote caves and are hunted down by a mysterious creature. It also stars John Rhys-Davies, best known for portraying Gimli in the ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. Sophia talks about clambering through mud, pretending to rock-climb and why she loves horror films…

How exciting is it to be one of the leads in ‘Bone Keeper’?

“It’s amazing! Working with John Rhys-Davies was a blast – he’s full of wild stories and knows everything about geology, which was perfect for this film. There’s lots of buzz already about ‘Bone Keeper’, with a headline release in Variety, and the film went to Cannes this month. I play Nadia – she’s feisty, driven and determined to be the first to discover what’s really hiding in those caves. She’s conflicted between helping her friends, and chasing glory and fulfilling her ambitions. I loved leaning into her tough, tomboy energy – even if I had to fake being good at rock climbing!

“I seem to get cast a lot in these action-horror type films, which is funny considering I’m not exactly Bear Grylls.” 

Was it a challenge to film?

“We were filming in wild, rugged landscapes – climbing through caves, crawling and slipping in mud… Halfway through shooting a lot of us got sick, which was intense but also kind of perfect – it mirrored the suffering and resilience of our characters. I love horror because it’s such a rich genre for actors. You get to explore every facet of human nature. ‘Bone Keeper’ really captures that in a raw and thrilling way.” 

What are your favourite moments so far from your acting career? 

“I’ve worked on some brilliant UK and US productions that I’m really proud of. In season 10 of ‘Call The Midwife’, I played Maria Kaufopolous – a feisty Cypriot woman who goes into labour on Christmas Day. She was such a fun character, with sharp one-liners and zero patience for her useless husband! It was fun making the character my own and bringing my own humour into it, and working alongside Jenny Agutter was a real honour. 

“I also had a nice gig on ‘Casualty’ – I’d just passed my driving test and in the episode I had to film a full-blown car crash scene! 

“And on the film side, ‘The Shamrock Spitfire’ was a standout project. It’s a WWII biopic, where I play a nurse who falls in love with the protagonist, though it is unrequited. She’s funny, compassionate, and deeply committed to his recovery. The role earned me five Best Actress awards, which was incredible.  I’ve always had a love for that era of history and I did extensive research into nurses of the time because I wanted to honour the real women who lived through those horrors with such strength and humour.” 

What’s next on the radar for you?

“Next up, I’m incredibly excited about an ‘AAA’ video game I’ve been working on with Frictional Games, where I play the leading role. It’s been months of intense voice and performance capture work, and I can’t wait for its release – it’s going to be a biggie! 

“I’m also eagerly anticipating the release of the film ‘As Night Falls’, which has already had a headline feature in Variety. We’re premiering in Leicester Square this year, and I play the lead, Jane – who becomes the real emotional anchor of the story. It’s a tense, psychological horror set in an industrial estate, where a group of survivors are hunted by a dark entity that mimics people’s appearances, slowly fracturing their sanity and trust in each other. I’ve always been drawn to characters who feel resilient, complex and full of humanity, and I’m excited to keep telling stories that challenge and connect with audiences.”

‘Bone Keeper’ will be released in cinemas in autumn 2025.

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