Thursday, The Home Depot Foundation launched its second-annual Spring into Service campaign, a season-long initiative to plant edible gardens that will provide fresh fruits and vegetables for 1,000 homeless U.S. military veterans at facilities that serve them. This effort is part of the Foundation's five year, $80 million commitment to ensure every veteran has a safe place to call home.

The first project will take place in Charlotte today, where 100 volunteers from Team Depot, the company's associate-led volunteer force, will plant an edible community garden in partnership with The Rotary Club of Gastonia. The garden will provide fresh produce for local homeless veterans and others in need at several local facilities.

During the campaign and throughout the spring season, Team Depot will plant additional gardens and complete repair projects at facilities across the country in partnership with local and national nonprofits.

"On any given night, there are nearly 60,000 homeless veterans," said Kelly Caffarelli, president of The Home Depot Foundation. "We're excited to put our gardening skills to work and celebrate the spring season with many of our nonprofit partners that provide safe housing to homeless veterans by planting healthy fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, squash, berries and peppers that will serve veterans in need for years to come."