The Votes Are in: America Shows Its Love for National Parks, but Everyone Wins in Lowe's First Online Giving Campaign

MOORESVILLE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Lowe's and the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation are distributing grants totaling $1 million to the four charities that participated in the company's first-ever online community giving campaign. Each charity will receive $100,000 for participating, and the remaining $600,000 will be distributed based on the percentage of votes each charity received at www.lowes.com/give and on Lowe's Facebook page from Jan. 9-21.

    --  The top vote getter, with 44.15 percent of the consumer vote, is
        theNational Park Foundation,the official charity of America's national
        parks. It willreceive a grant of $364,900. The Foundation will be using
        its grant to fund America's Best Idea Grants, a program inspired by the
        Ken Burns film, The National Parks: America's Best Idea. The funding
        will also support the Foundation's Electronic Field Trips (EFTs), which
        will allowmillions of school children to experience America's national
        parks as virtual classrooms, learning vital topics from climate change
        to geology to history, through an interactive online and broadcast
        experience.
    --  Keep America Beautiful(KAB)received 37.38 percent of the vote for a
        total grant amount $324,280. KAB will use the grant to help host its
        signature community improvement program, the Great American Cleanup,
        this spring. The Great American Cleanup is the nation's largest
        organized clean-up, beautification and community improvement program and
        will promote clean-up and recycling efforts in more than 33,700
        communities.
    --  Water.orgwillreceive $158,920, having won 9.82 percent of the vote.
        Funds awarded from the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation will
        support Water.org's long-term development efforts in Haiti to increase
        access to sustainable, safe water and sanitation services. Water.org has
        committed to reaching 50,000 Haitians with clean water and sanitation by
        2012.
    --  American Forests received 8.65 percent of the vote, making its total
        grant amount $151,900. American Forests plans to use the funds to help
        reach its 2011 goal of planting more than five million trees in dozens
        of restoration projects across the United States and to launch a new
        public education initiative about forests and trees. The trees it plants
        with Lowe's support will help restore critical habitat for wildlife,
        prevent erosion, stabilize watersheds, and filter pollutants from the
        atmosphere. Its new educational resources will help educate and engage
        diverse communities of people about the environmental and societal
        benefits of forests and trees.

"We found that people were extremely enthusiastic about the online giving campaign," said Larry D. Stone, chairman of the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation. "Lowe's and LCEF are proud to give each of the four charities grants that will help create more sustainable communities and environments across the United States and in Haiti."

Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation selected the four, well-established charities based on their missions, which align with one of Lowe's sustainability focus areas, including promoting energy and water conservation, minimizing waste and increasing recycling opportunities, land conservation, and reducing carbon emissions.

ABOUT LOWE'S

Lowe's is a proud supporter of Habitat for Humanity International, American Red Cross, SkillsUSA/Skills Canada, and The Nature Conservancy, in addition to numerous nonprofit organizations and programs that help communities in North America. In 2009, Lowe's and the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation together contributed more than $30 million to support community and education projects in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Lowe's also encourages volunteerism through the Lowe's Heroes program, a company-wide employee volunteer initiative. Lowe's is a FORTUNE(R) 50 company with fiscal year 2009 sales of $47.2 billion and has more than 1,725 stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico. For more information, visit Lowes.com/socialresponsibility.

    Source: Lowe's