Vince Gill To Help Build New Orleans Playground

The Academy of Country Music(R) & The Home Depot(R), the world's largest home improvement retailer, announced 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 25th, 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 5th year, the Humanitarian Award recognizes artists who serve others, have a generous spirit & 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 & give the children at the International School of Louisiana areason 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 2 undersized rented facilities, neither of which had adequate playspaces. Both buildings were destroyed in the flooding caused by the storm, & the school was relocated to a former Orleans Parish school building with no playground equipment onsite. The new playground being built at ISL will provide a safe & funplace to play for almost 400 students currently enrolled at the school.

"Many of us in the country community are still hit hard when were member the devastation of Hurricane Katrina," commented Bob Romeo, Academy of Country Music executive director. "It is wonderful to see how many of our artists are out there still trying to bring awareness to these hard-hit communities, & by Vince Gill picking New Orleans as the site for his KaBOOM! playground build, it is just another example of the dedication he & our community have to helping one another."

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 & national philanthropic leaders for his ongoing community service & charitable giving of his time & talent. Past recipients of the Humanitarian Award include Reba McEntire, Lonestar, Martina McBride & 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 19th. 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.