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Dadeville veteran gets new porch from Home Depot, United Way

The Alexander City Outlook - 9/15/2017

The Dadeville home of Tracy Grantham, a retired member of the Army National Guard, was a busy hive of activity Thursday, as associates from Home Depot stores across the area, along with the manager from both the Alexander City and Auburn Home Depot built a new porch onto Grantham's house on Old Miller's Ferry Road.

"We normally do about five or six of these large projects each year," Team Depot Captain Pat Bull said. "We also do several smaller projects a year, such as building a ramp or things like that."

In order to do projects like this, veterans come into Home Depot and apply for assistance. Someone from Team Depot will go out and examine the project site to see if it is something they can do. Should the project be deemed feasible, the store will apply for a grant through the Home Depot Foundation, according to Bull.

In order to receive grants to complete projects like Grantham's new porch, the store must have a non-profit partner. For the Alexander City Home Depot, they have been in a partnership with the Lake Martin Area United Way for the past several years.

"We help write the grants to apply for these funds," United Way Executive Director Sharon Fuller said. "Once the project is approved, we offer all the support we can."

Sometimes, this means the United Way members will be rolling up their sleeves and working right alongside the Home Depot associates, but Fuller and her team could be found early Thursday afternoon serving the Team Depot crew lunch, giving the nine orange-shirted workers a well-deserved break of Little Caesars pizza.

Fuller added she had met Grantham through the Loaves and Fishes ministry, seeing how much the veteran believed in giving back to his community.

"Without the United Way being our non-profit partner, we would not be able to do these projects," Bull said. "It means the world, doing things like this. It really gets to you when you can do something to help like this."

Grantham watched the team as they cut wooden boards before fitting and nailing them into place, slowly turning the frame into a brand new, sturdy wooden porch for he and his family.

"It feels wonderful," Grantham said. "It shows people really care about the community and the people in it."

Grantham said he had initially gone to Home Depot to apply for getting part of his roof repaired, but that an examination of his house by Bull led to Team Depot looking at building him a new porch, as the old one had begun to weaken and fall.

"I feel overjoyed. There was a really big turnout for this. Some of them have been here since I think around 8 this morning," Grantham said.

Fuller wanted to express thanks to Little Caesars for supplying the Team Depot crew with lunch Thursday, as well as the Dadeville Jack's for agreeing to furnish lunch for the workers on Friday.

When the Home Depot associates finish their work Friday afternoon, Grantham and his family will have a brand new front door and well-built porch gracing their Dadeville home, making the many hours the members of Team Depot and the Lake Martin Area United Way spent volunteering on this project well worth it.

"For them to give their own time for this, it really makes it wonderful," Grantham said.