Three charities. Six renovations. Thousands of impacted lives.

Hundreds of Lowe’s Heroes give back during region-wide Day of Service

How do you renovate six different homes in a single day? How about calling on the hands and hearts of hundreds of Lowe’s Heroes?

About 124 Lowe’s stores stretching from upper Minnesota down to St. Louis make up Lowe’s Region 12. On a warm day in August, all 124 store managers from Region 12 met for a special day of giving. The goal? To give back to the town of St. Charles, Missouri.

Together, Lowe’s Heroes renovated and upgraded six different homes that support three St. Charles charities:  Youth In Need, St. Louis Crisis Nursery and Bridgeway’s Domestic Violence Service. Landscaping, moving furniture and painting were just a few of the crucial projects that helped give these shelters a much-needed facelift.

Youth in Need serves children, youth and families all throughout Eastern Missouri. It serves almost 10,000 kids every single year through programs ranging from counseling to early childhood education to emergency shelter.

“It means so much to know that people care about them,” Pat Holterman-Hommes, CEO of Youth in Need said of the Lowe’s Heroes volunteers. “You’re complete strangers, but you’re doing all this to help support them and for them to have a nice place, comfortable, safe and functional place to learn and to live.”

A few blocks away, Lowe’s Heroes were working on a much older house for St. Louis Crisis Nursery.  It provides a safe haven for kids and families when they are experiencing a short-term crisis.

“To have a professional and safe space for our kids and parents to come when they’re in crisis and in times of need, it means everything to them,” said Maggie Middleton who works at the nursery. “And it means everything to us.”

For Bridgeway’s Domestic Violence Service, the day was also a huge step for the women and children who have nowhere else to go.  Shera Baker with the organization was equally touched by the show of support and what it means.

“To come somewhere where it is a nice clean, warm and inviting environment and to be able to rebuild with those kind of surroundings means so much,” Baker said.

The renovation and upgrades to the homes will impact thousands of lives for years to come, but Lowe’s didn’t stop there. Following the Day of Service, all associates in Region 12 and the 124 stores collected toiletries, tooth brushes and many other personal items. The items were assembled into hygiene kits that will be sent to the kids and families who use the services these crucial organizations provide.