Retool Your School: Help Your HBCU Win Campus Upgrades

Last Updated on February 27, 2015

Oakwood University students and faculty celebrate winning one of the 2014 Retool Your School Campus Improvement Grants.
Oakwood University students and faculty celebrate winning one of the 2014 Retool Your School Campus Improvement Grants. Photo credit: The Home Depot.

The Home Depot – world’s biggest home improvement retailer recently announced that applications are now being accepted for its Retool Your School Campus Improvement Grant Program 2015. Established in 2010, the program aims to help historically black colleges and universities across the country make enduring, eco-friendly, sustaining improvements to their campus and facilities by proving financial support and grants. From installing sustainable washrooms to assisting a school with constructing additional rooms, these advancement projects will help to better campus life for students and faculties.

What’s new this year

This year, the program will utilize a cluster system for online voting. Under which, a total of $255,000 will be awarded to nine accredited HBCUs in $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 grant denominations. And based on student enrollment data, schools will be divided into one of the three groups — schools with 4,000 enrollments or more, schools with between 3,999 and 1,201 enrollments, or schools with less than 1,200 enrollments.

Who may apply for Retool Your School Program 2015

To apply for the program respondents must:

  • Be an accredited HBCU as defined by the U.S Department of Education
  • Have a tax identification number
  • Provide proof of completed project and submit current status photos of 2014 implementation by February 10, 2015 (for 2014 winners only)

How to help your HBCU to win campus upgrades

Online voting will begin February 27, 2015, at 12:00 a.m. EST and end April 20, 2015, at 11:59 p.m. EST. During that period, respective HBCU supporters can cast one vote per day per device for their preferred HBCU project. Supporters can also bank votes by using the unique hashtag (found on the website) for each school on their social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Each use of a school’s unique hashtag will be counted as one social media vote.

Vote Now!

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