This fall, as The Home Depot Foundation concludes its Celebration of Service campaign honoring our veterans, The Home Depot is proud to announce a separate, impactful milestone: reaching $100,000 donated to Blue Star Families.
What began as a seasonal planter promotion grew into a powerful show of support for military families. This past spring, customers across the country purchased nearly 14,000 red, white & blue planters sold in more than 330 stores near military bases. A portion of each sale was donated to Blue Star Families, bringing together our products and customers in meaningful support of military families.
“Supporting military families is part of who we are,” said Haley Weaver, Senior Manager of Military Relations at The Home Depot. “Through this initiative, we were able to turn a seasonal product into a symbol of gratitude—and directly benefit the communities we’re proud to serve.”
Since 2006, The Home Depot Foundation has invested more than $550 million in veteran causes. Blue Star Families, founded by military spouses, helps bridge the civilian-military divide by connecting families to critical resources—from caregiver support and career development to local events and peer networks.
Jessica Foster, Planters Merchant at The Home Depot, shares: "The planters, proudly designed and manufactured in Middlefield, Ohio, became more than just a product—they became a statement of appreciation. We were ecstatic to support Blue Star Families with our planter promotion."
A Broader Commitment
This effort is one of many ways The Home Depot honors veterans and their families. With tens of thousands of associates who are veterans or military family members, this work is deeply personal. From building career paths for transitioning service members to providing portable careers to military spouses, helping them have seamless moves to supporting nonprofits like Blue Star Families, The Home Depot remains committed to those who serve.
Q&A with Blue Star Families
What is your role at Blue Star Families?
I am the vice president of brand partnerships. My job is to identify brands who are willing to step up in an authentic way and then respond to what our military families need.
What does this donation from The Home Depot mean for Blue Star Families and your work?
We're a nonprofit, so we simply can't do this work without the support of organizations like Home Depot. This, this support, this campaign, this partnership really helps. We collect data that identifies the existing challenges from military families, and then we put together the resources and the tools required to address those challenges. That's how we seek to make an impact.
What specific programs or initiatives do the funds support?
It's really helping those active-duty families transition. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) tells us that 600,000 military and veteran families move every year. That's mass migration, and they're moving every one, two and three years – finding themselves in these new locations. That impacts everything.
The DoD actually tells us that one of the biggest retention issues is our service members are leaving because their families are not able to thrive in this environment. You know the impact of having to move every one, two to three years? Financial insecurity because the military spouse has to find a new job and disruptions in career paths for military families. One of the other repercussions we're seeing is that financial insecurity leads to food insecurity.
Also, they are reporting that they feel isolated when they're moving to a new community. So, a lot of our work is centered around whether we can solve that isolation.
What sets The Home Depot apart from as a corporate partner?
Our community can tell when a brand is authentically stepping up. You've been doing it for years.
It was very apparent that [The Home Depot] team did not want to do anything that wasn't going to truly impact the community. We had a lot of conversations and really homed in on this: let's help them move.
70% of military families don't live on a military base. They live out in communities where you live. They're out there trying to make connections and find out all of the things on their own. Data shows that in the last 3-4, five years, more and more military families are electing not to have the military move them. They're saying, “I want to move my own things.” “I want more control over this process.” For those families who have elected to take control and do those moves themselves, there were lots of questions around what size truck do I need to rent? How many boxes do I need to purchase? How much bubble wrap?
We talked to your team, and they said, “We've already developed that resource.” It's that authenticity; you guys actually get it [and are] showing the community you want to step up in a way that really makes a difference.
What can individuals do to support military families?
We have an initiative every year around the end of September: Blue Star Welcome Week. The intent is to inspire all Americans to engage in a simple act of welcome for active-duty military families and veterans who are moving into your communities. Sometimes we feel a little bit hesitant because we're temporary. Do we have a right to assimilate? Do we have a right to insert ourselves into that group or that community in that way? Being made to feel welcome in that community and for people just to reach out, that's what would make that family feel like this community is more of a home. Ask them what they need.
Most Americans want to help, but they don't know what's needed and they don't know how to provide the help even if they know what's needed. Let's start with something really, really simple, and that's “welcome.”
