Washington, D.C. - The Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) recognized KaBOOM! and The Home Depot with its Directors Award today for a high impact partnership that positively changes the lives of children and communities across North America.

The CECP Directors Award recognizes a nonprofit organization that has distinguished itself by building an effective partnership with a corporation in its community. KaBOOM! and The Home Depot have worked together over the last 10 years to develop a community-build model that encourages civic leadership and revitalizes communities through creating great playspaces for children. The partnership has mobilized more than 40,000 volunteers to build or improve more than 500 community playgrounds, skateparks and sports fields across North America.

KaBOOM! CEO and Co-Founder Darell Hammond and The Home Depot Chairman, President & CEO Bob Nardelli were on hand at the CECP Excellence Awards Luncheon in New York City to accept the award.

"We are honored to receive this Excellence Award from the Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy. This award is about more than just our ability to create positive change in the lives of children and communities, however. It is also a testament to the vision and generosity of one of America's great companies, The Home Depot, its associates and its CEO, Bob Nardelli," said Hammond.

"With their incredible support, we can make our vision of a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America become a reality. I salute The Home Depot for its dedication and commitment and thank its associates on behalf of our board, employees and the thousands of children whose lives are filled with laughter and imagination," Hammond added.

In 2005, KaBOOM! and The Home Depot launched an unprecedented initiative to create and refurbish 1,000 playspaces in 1,000 days throughout North America. The Home Depot is investing $25 million and nearly 1 million volunteer hours in support of this three-year program, which is expected to benefit 1.5 million parents and children.

"Having built and restored more than 400 playgrounds together with KaBOOM! over the past 10 years, we have seen firsthand how important playgrounds are to the development of our children and the communities," said Nardelli. "Led by dedicated Team Depot volunteers, our 345,000 associates are committed to improving the areas in which we live and work."

The 2005 Excellence Awards Jury Selection Committee was composed of distinguished experts from the corporate, nonprofit, media and academic communities.

"The common thread of this year's award-winning applicants is CEO leadership," said Charles Moore, executive director of CECP. "Employees at our winning companies, both corporate and nonprofit, have responded to the philanthropic mandate of their CEOs, who present an innovative vision of social awareness aligned with corporate America's business needs and objectives."

KaBOOM! and The Home Depot are also currently planning two playground projects, in Pass Christian, Miss., and New Orleans, as part of Operation Playground, a two-year KaBOOM! initiative to build 100 playgrounds in Gulf Coast communities affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The first Operation Playground project took place in December 2005 in Bay St. Louis, Miss. The second, attended by First Lady Laura Bush, was with The Home Depot in neighboring Kiln, Miss. In August, KaBOOM! will launch a playground building "blitz" at schools across the Gulf Coast to commemorate the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

About CECP
The Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) is the only national forum of business CEOs and Chairpersons with an agenda exclusively focused on corporate philanthropy. The Committee's mission is to raise the level and quality of strategic corporate giving nationally and globally by identifying, educating, promoting, and recognizing best practices and measurements of corporate philanthropy. CECP's members embrace and encourage other business leaders to promote the case for corporate philanthropy. For more information, visit www.corpphilanthropy.org.

About KaBOOM!
Celebrating its ten year anniversary in 2006, KaBOOM! is a national nonprofit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Over the past decade, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together business and community interests to construct nearly 1,000 new playgrounds, skateparks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America. KaBOOM! also offers a variety of resources, including a web portal and online community, regional and national trainings, grants and publications for communities that wish to plan a new playspace on their own. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago, Atlanta and San Mateo, CA. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.

About The Home Depot
Founded in 1978, The Home Depot® is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer and the second largest retailer in the United States, with fiscal 2005 sales of $81.5 billion. The Company employs approximately 345,000 associates and has 2,051 stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. Through its Home Depot Supply division, the Company operates one of the nation's largest diversified wholesale distributors with operations in 41 states and Canada. The Home Depot has been recognized by FORTUNE magazine as the No. 1 Most Admired Specialty Retailer and the No. 13 Most Admired Corporation in America for 2006. Its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index.

KaBOOM!

KaBOOM!

KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to the bold goal of ensuring that all children, particularly the 16 million American children living in poverty, get the active play they need to become healthy and successful adults. KaBOOM! has been a powerful champion for play since its founding in 1996, working with partners to build, improve, and open more than 15,000 playgrounds, engage more than 1,000,000 volunteers and serve more than 6,600,000 children. KaBOOM! creates and catalyzes great places to play; inspires, empowers and leads play advocates; and elevates the societal conversation about the importance of play in children’s lives. For more information, visit kaboom.org/act.

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