Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation Awards $1 Million to Keep America Beautiful

Donation to support grant program for local community improvement projects

STAMFORD, Conn., Feb. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National nonprofit Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (KAB) and the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation (LCEF) today announced a major gift in support of KAB's mission to engage individuals in local community improvement and environmental projects.

The donation to KAB will be made available to the organization's 587 local and 24 statewide affiliates through a merit-based grant program that will begin in February 2012. In total, 20 grants of $20,000 and 100 grants of $5,000 will be awarded. Funds will support grassroots community improvement projects ranging from community gardens and tree plantings to litter and debris cleanups, recycling programs, park and playground restorations and beautification efforts.

"This donation and the grant program it will support are truly historic for our organization, forming the largest single donation directly supporting our affiliates in our history," said Keep America Beautiful President and CEO Matthew M. McKenna. "We look forward to the creative projects these grants will support, and more importantly, the positive impact they create for our communities and the nation. We are truly grateful to Lowe's for their support and leadership."

KAB will directly solicit its affiliates for grant applications beginning in February.

The grant encourages KAB affiliates to engage with their local Lowe's Heroes program, a company-wide volunteer initiative that offers Lowe's employees the opportunity to work on projects in their own neighborhood and furthers the program's mission of making our communities better places to live, work and play.

"Lowe's is committed to protecting the environment through our conservation practices, products we offer, consumer education and partnerships we enter into," said Michael Chenard, Lowe's Director of Corporate Sustainability. "That's why our partnership with Keep America Beautiful is a natural fit. Just like KAB, we continue to build on a history of leadership as we promote environmental conservation."

ABOUT LOWE'S
Lowe's supports the communities it serves through programs that focus on K-12 public education and community improvement projects. The company's signature education grant program, Lowe's Toolbox for Education, has donated nearly $5 million in grants to K-12 public schools every year since its inception in 2006. Lowe's Heroes employee volunteers support local community projects and our national nonprofit partners such as Habitat for Humanity  and the American Red Cross. In 2010, Lowe's and the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation together contributed more than $30 million to support communities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.  To learn more, visit Lowes.com/SocialResponsibility.

ABOUT KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL
Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation's largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. With a network of nearly 1,200 affiliate and participating organizations, Keep America Beautiful forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. For additional information, visit www.kab.org.

Contacts:
Keep America Beautiful
Robert Wallace/Larry Kaufman
203.659.3016/203.659.3014
[email protected]/[email protected]

Lowe's Companies, Inc.
Stacey Lentz
704-758-2173
[email protected]

SOURCE Keep America Beautiful, Inc.

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