Santa Maria Sun / News

Lompoc vets building nominated for Home Depot contest

BY CAMILLIA LANHAM

If the Lompoc Veterans Memorial Building Foundation gets enough votes on Facebook, it could win a $25,000 Home Depot gift card to put toward updating the structure.

APRONS IN ACTION: The Lompoc Veterans Memorial Building Foundation is competing against three other organizations for a chance at a $25,000 gift card from the Home Depot through the Home Depot Foundation’s Aprons in Action contest.

Winning that gift card would put the veterans building closer to being refinished, said the president of the Lompoc Veterans Memorial Building Foundation, Alice Milligan.

So far, she’s helped the foundation through four years and $1.5 million worth of remodeling and construction on the building and estimates they need another two years and $200,000 to finish the project.

“I think the building is a tremendous asset to the community,” Milligan said. “If we get this money, it would be a tremendous boon.”

The veterans building just completed a $24,000 kitchen remodel through a Home Depot grant, after which Home Depot nominated them to compete in the Aprons in Action contest.

Lompoc is competing with three other veteran-focused organizations during the month of February to win the gift card.

This is the Home Depot Foundation’s second year running the year-long Aprons in Action contest.

Each month, four new organizations compete for the $25,000. The runner-up receives a $5,000 Home Depot gift card.

In May 2013, all 11 monthly winners compete for the grand prize: $250,000 from the Home Depot Foundation. Second- and third-place winners take $150,000 and $100,000, respectively.

To vote for the veterans building, find Aprons in Action on the Home Depot Foundation’s Facebook page, facebook.com/homedepotfoundation. Voting runs through Feb. 28 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Staff Writer Camillia Lanham compiled this week’s Community Corner. Send comments or ideas to the Sun via e-mail at clanham@santamariasun.com.