Paine College is excited to provide a status report on the ongoing Home Depot Retool Your School Campus Improvement projects.
 
Link to Retool Your School Progress

Background
In April 2024, Paine College celebrated winning the coveted $150,000 Home Depot Retool Your School Campus Improvement Grant. Paine's unwavering commitment to inclusivity and giving access to its entire campus family led to a winning proposal that included campus upgrades that would create a warm welcoming environment for students, faculty, staff, and visitors. Needless to say, the sheer will and commitment to logging the most votes among 30 HBCUs in Cluster 3 positioned the College to enter its winning proposal.

This milestone attracted Grammy-award winning artist CeeLo Green who celebrated the achievement with the campus family on April 20th. Of particular note, CeeLo has donated all of his appearances and services to Paine College since becoming a Visiting Artist-in-Residence in October 2021.

Once the College's vision was approved in May, Home Depot assigned the local Home Depot store to assist Paine with ordering approved supplies and materials needed to implement the projects.

As of August 20th, approximately 95% of all materials and supplies have been delivered and stored in a secure location. The Project Coordinator and Project Managers have issued an agreed upon Project Timeline (attached) that is designed to keep all projects on track.

New Outdoor Grill
Returning students were greeted with a newly built outdoor grill that replaced the old fallen brick grill located between Epworth Hall and Gray Hall. In addition, benches were installed in the area, and soon tables will accompany benches. The vision is to create an area where students can enjoy an outdoor food experience while gathering in a comfortable sitting area. The new outdoor grill is simply a fraction of the improvements that can be seen throughout the campus and improvement projects that are ongoing.

Future Steps
Home Depot does not cover costs for labor. There are several projects that are at the center of the overall Campus Improvement Project that are not covered by Home Depot. For example, it is the vision of the College to strip, resurface and seal the Basketball Court located at the rear of Peters Campus Center. Also, the College wishes to rebuild the outdoor Volleyball Court. A drainage system located adjacent to the Basketball Court needs repairing while the makeshift parking lot needs paving. The College hired a professional tree removal service to remove excessive shrubbery and thick foliage that were adjoined to a fence located in the rear of the Student Center. The College removed foliage, shrubbery, thick vines and tree stumps at the Institution's expense in order to clear spaces for new benches and sitting areas.

Invitation To Support Projects (Click Here to Give)
We invite friends and supporters to contact the Office of Institutional Advancement to learn how to donate toward costs not supported by Home Depot. For example, the College estimates that the costs related to resurfacing the basketball court, rebuilding the volleyball court, paving the parking lot and installing the drainage system adjacent to the recreation area will amount to nearly $100,000. The recreation area is utilized by the campus family and the community.

You are encouraged to contact Helene Carter in the Office of Institutional Advancement at hcarter@59shoushen.com or call (706) 821.8323 to learn how to support cost-related projects.

Volunteers Needed (Register to Volunteer – Click Here)
The College extends an invitation to painters, electricians, carpenters, construction managers, cement pourers and others to volunteer by assisting Project Managers and Plant Operations with assembling dozens of tables, high chairs, picnic tables, benches, outdoor lighting fixtures, and gazebos.

Project Timeline (Click to View)

Invitation To Tour the Campus
The College extends an invitation to alumni and friends to visit the campus on Friday, September 6th to attend the Opening Fall Convocation at 11am, followed by a Cookout, and a Tour of the Campus Improvement projects that will be ongoing.

"Let's be reminded of the collective power we possess to shape a brighter future for Paine College students. We extend our sincere gratitude to the Paine College Family, Trustees, Alumni, and Friends who have supported and are continuing to pour into this project. We are extremely grateful to Home Depot for its continued support."

Dr. Cheryl Evans Jones, President
Helene Carter, Program Administrator
LeRoy Summers, Project Coordinator
Gather Lewis, Project Manager
Yewston Curry, Project Manager
Kornelius Taylor, Project Manager
Mahmoud Alnashef & Team, The Home Depot Store #0119
Jeremy Ownby, Website & Eblast Manager
Joseph Dingle, Student Affairs Liaison
Sheila Paige, Student Affairs Liaison
Demi McKeever, Miss Paine College, Student Rep
Basheeba Smallwood, Records
Kirsten Goodwin, Alumni Liaison
Leadra Collins, Community Liaison
William Fennoy, Community Liaison
George Bailey, President, Augusta Alumni Chapter
John Kelsey, Atlanta Metro Alumni Chapter
Plant Operations Team

(This is a partial listing of Team Members & Volunteers)