Receiving 16,153 online votes, Saratoga County Rural Preservation Co.’s Veterans Housing, Employment and Lifeskills Programs (RPC’s VETHELP) won Home Depot Foundation’s April 2013 balloting contest, securing $25,000 for a Guardian House project.

The funds will be used to expand the Guardian House, VETHELP’s shelter for female veterans on Route 50. The organization will renovate an old garage into a study and an exercise room. Executive Director Budd Mazurek said a storage area and an outdoor garden are also planned.

But the contest isn’t over just yet.

This month, VETHELP is one of 10 Home Depot Aprons in Action finalists competing against nine other finalists for a $250,000 grand prize. Voting runs through May 31 at www.facebook.com/homedepotfoundation. The organization with the most votes at the end of the month will win the top prize. Organizations with the second- and third-most votes will receive $150,000 and $100,000 from the Home Depot Foundation, respectively.

The Aprons in Action contest began in June 2012, with the Home Depot Foundation’s Facebook fans helping their favorite not-for-profit organization win $25,000 to better the communities they serve. Across the country, Home Depot associates give back to their communities by volunteering their time and talents with local nonprofits that support our nation’s veterans. Through the Aprons in Action Program, Team Depot volunteers offer additional hours and supplies to all the contest’s featured nonprofits for additional work in their communities.

“VETHELP would like to thank all our supporters who helped us win the April contest, which will let us continue to serve homeless veterans,” Mazurek said. “So we encourage everyone to vote on Facebook every day during May to help us win the grand prize of $250,000.”

Funds from the April contest will let VETHELP complete a healthy living area project in the female veterans’ home. In addition, the organization plans to use the funds to open a thrift store that will serve as a training facility for female veterans and create sustainable funding for VETHELP’s programs. The training facility will help female veterans become independent and develop the skills needed to reenter the workforce. 

--Jennie