Vince Gill, Academy Of Country Music and The Home Depot to build playground in New Orleans

The Academy of Country Music® and The Home Depot®, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, announced today that country music superstar Vince Gill will join volunteers from The Home Depot and the surrounding community to construct a new KaBOOM! playground in one day at the relocated campus of the International School of Louisiana (ISL) in New Orleans on September 25, 2006. The playground is being built in honor of Gill, who was the 2006 recipient of the Academy of Country Music/The Home Depot Humanitarian Award at the 41st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.  In its fifth year, the Humanitarian Award recognizes artists who serve others, have a generous spirit and help build the dreams of those in need.  In addition to recognition at the awards show, the Humanitarian Award recipient is honored with a KaBOOM! playground donated by The Home Depot in the city of his choice. Gill requested that his playground be built in New Orleans in order to help the city rebuild.   “It is truly an honor to be able to build this playground in New Orleans and give the children at the International School of Louisiana a reason to smile and a place to play,” said Gill. “Given the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, it is an obvious need for the community.” Prior to Hurricane Katrina, ISL operated out of two undersized rented facilities, neither of which had adequate playspaces. Both buildings were destroyed in the flooding caused by the storm, and the school was relocated to a former Orleans Parish school building with no playground equipment on site.  The new playground being built at ISL will provide a safe and fun place to play for almost 400 students currently enrolled at the school. Gill was selected to receive the Academy of Country Music/The Home Depot Humanitarian Award by a special blue-ribbon committee comprised of executives in the country music industry as well as local and national philanthropic leaders for his ongoing community service and charitable giving of his time and talent. Past recipients of the Humanitarian Award include Reba McEntire, Lonestar, Martina McBride and Neal McCoy. “In recognition of The Home Depot Humanitarian Award, we are pleased to partner with KaBOOM! to build a playground in honor of Vince, an individual who shares his valuable time unselfishly to help others,” said Roger Adams, senior vice president, Marketing, The Home Depot.  “As part of The Home Depot’s ongoing commitment to rebuild the Gulf region affected by the hurricanes, Team Depot associate volunteers will work side by side with Vince to not only build the playground, but to provide a gathering space for the entire community.” The playground design was created with input from children from the community who attended a “Design Day” event on July 19.  The children’s drawings will be used to create the final design for the playground, which will be constructed in just one day this fall by hundreds of volunteers, including Gill.