A Home Depot scholarship offers an excellent way for students to supplement or fund the cost of their college education. Home Deport supports the Orange Scholars Scholarship Program, which is operated through the Homer Fund. The goal of this fund is to make a positive impact in the lives of Home Depot associates. This fund recognizes how expensive it can be to obtain a post-secondary education and opted in 2006 to begin branching out and looking for additional ways to show support to associates. As a result, the Orange Scholars Scholarship Program was established.
Home Depot Scholarship to Children of Associates
This program offers Home Depot scholarships to the children of associates based on academic performance, financial need and community leadership and involvement. An emphasis is placed on financial need. Minimum qualifications do apply for these Home Depot scholarships, including all applicants must be a current high school senior or must be a freshman, sophomore or junior enrolled in college full-time. The parent or legal guardian of the applicant must be an associate of Home Depot for a minimum of one year and must also be an associate at the time the Home Depot scholarship is awarded. Since 2006, more than 4,500 students have received scholarships through this fund amounting to more than $7 million.
Home Depot Scholarships for Small Business
Home Depot is not only dedicated to helping students pay for their college educations but also assisting entrepreneurs as well. Along with providing Home Depot scholarships to assist college-bound students, Home Depot also offers corporate scholarships that support the development and growth of small businesses. One such scholarship available is the George A. Lottier Scholarship. George A. Lottier served as President and CEO of the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council until his death in September of 2007. Prior to serving in this capacity, Mr. Lottier was on the GMSDC board for more than two decades. During that time he worked to facilitate relationships between minority business owners and the corporate community. Home Depot has accredited much of their diverse business development to their partnership with Mr. Lottier. It was through his assistance that Home Depot created a scholarship fund that now awards some $125,000 per year.
In honor of the company’s relationship with Mr. Lottier they have now renamed the Home Depot Scholarship fund the George A. Lottier Scholarship Fund as a way of honoring his commitment and passion to supplier development. Through this fund in excess of $125,000 is awarded per year to small and/or diverse businesses that are interested in improving their businesses. Through this effort, Home Depot partners with a variety of organizations as well as advanced management programs with various universities, including Dartmouth and Northwestern as a way of assisting entrepreneurs in taking their businesses to the next level. Applications are considered on a rolling basis.
Home Depot Scholarships for Community and Trade Schools
Home Depot has also announced they are reaching out their communities with in excess of $1 million in scholarship and grant funding. This funding is provided to support America’s future homebuilders through a Pro Trade Scholarship Program. As the largest home improvement retailer in the world, Home Depot has dedicated itself to providing funding for students who attend professional building and construction trade schools. Along with supporting individual students, the Home Depot scholarship program will also support the schools those students attend. $1,000 scholarships will be offered to 500 trade school students as a way of assisting them in offsetting educational expenses such as tuition, books and tools. The schools benefiting from the scholarship program will also receive funding for classroom tools through the Home Depot Foundation as a result of $1,000 matching gifts for each scholarship that is awarded to at least one of the school’s students. Home depot scholarship applications are accepted through the end of April and can be submitted online. Home Depot Scholarships are open to all students around the country, provided they are currently enrolled in a construction and building trade school program. Winners are chosen on the basis of work experience, leadership and academic performance.