On the first Saturday of each month, Home Depot stores are greeted with grinning faces lined up to receive miniature orange aprons and build something special at our Kids Workshops.
“I love seeing their energetic faces come in eager to learn and build,” says Eileen Claar, the workshop captain at store #6986 in Atlanta, Ga. “I’ve had parents tell me they can’t get their kids up for school, but they can easily get them up for the Kids Workshops. They’re just so excited.”
This month, not only was Eileen greeted with her normal abundance of Saturday morning workshop excitement, but she got to support a subject close to her heart – honoring our veterans. The November workshop – building toy fighter jets – was an opportunity for parents to build with their children while making conversation about who veterans are and why their service to our country is so important.
“I was overwhelmed by the great discussions between parents and their children and the excitement of the kids to give back. So many children went above and beyond the project to draw or paint a picture for a veteran in addition to building their plane project,” said Eileen.
Several Home Depot stores went above and beyond the typical workshop as well. Partnering with bloggers across the country, stores in areas like Atlanta, Ga., Grand Rapids, Mich. and San Antonio, Texas built patriotic projects to give back to their local veteran communities. At Eileen’s project in Atlanta, the children came together to put their handprints on a DIY handprint American Flag donated to The Shepherd Center, a non-profit foundation committed to helping veterans recover from brain injuries and post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Check out the kids and projects in action, and be sure to stay tuned to our Kids Workshops calendar to see what projects are next in your area.
