American Red Cross and The Home Depot Announce Launch of Ready Gear

Preparedness Kit Features Recommended Items for Emergencies

WASHINGTON, Tuesday, October 26, 2004 — The American Red Cross and The Home Depot®, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, today announced the launch of Ready Gear, an emergency kit containing essential, lifesaving items recommended by the American Red Cross. The contents of the kit can aid two adults for 72 hours during or immediately following a disaster or emergency.

Ready Gear is being introduced at a time when emergency preparedness is top of mind for Americans. A study conducted for the American Red Cross in July 2004 by Wirthlin Worldwide indicates that 67% of Americans feel it is very important to be prepared for catastrophic events, yet only 22% of those surveyed feel they are very prepared.

"Build a kit" is one of the five simple but important steps the Red Cross recommends people take in order to be better prepared for emergencies. While the Red Cross sells its own pre-assembled kits through local chapters and online at www.redcross.org, recent research suggests that many shoppers prefer to make their purchases in a traditional retail store environment so they can see, feel and inspect the product before they buy. The development and sale of the new Ready Gear kit by The Home Depot creates a unique alliance with the Red Cross that supports its mission of helping people prevent, prepare for and respond to disasters and life’s emergencies.

"We are thrilled that The Home Depot is partnering with us to help get people prepared while enabling us to reach out to new markets with our vital lifesaving information," said Scott Conner, vice president of preparedness for the American Red Cross. "The need for personal preparedness is greater today than ever before."

An unusually severe hurricane season and other weather-related disasters along the east coast of the United States punctuate the importance and urgency of getting prepared today. During the past couple of months, The Home Depot has donated nearly $4 million to numerous nonprofit organizations in order to assist with the repair and rebuilding efforts throughout the impacted area. In addition, the company has mobilized supplies and associates as never before to meet the needs of its customers.

"The Home Depot takes our role in emergency preparedness very seriously," said John Costello, executive vice president, Merchandising and Marketing for The Home Depot. "It is an honor to partner with the Red Cross and to have contributed to the development of such an important kit of emergency essentials."

Ready Gear is available for purchase at The Home Depot in selected coastal and "high threat" markets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Ready Gear’s retail price is $79.99, which includes a $10.00 donation to the American Red Cross. Beginning in November, the kit may be purchased on The Home Depot’s Web site, www.homedepot.com.

The kit contains the following items, which may be used whether evacuating or sheltering-in-place:

Tools
One set of emergency instructions (provided by the Red Cross)
One heavy backpack
Two N95 breathing masks (3M brand 9210)
One roll of duct tape – 10 yard
Two pairs of leather-palm gloves

Food and Water
Four 2,400-calorie food bars (Datrex brand)
Thirty 4.227-ounce water pouches (Datrex brand)
Two 2.5-gallon food grade collapsible water containers (Reliance brand)

Light and Communication
One D cell flashlight (Eveready brand)
Two D cell batteries (DuraMax Heavy Duty brand)
One AM/FM radio (Coby brand CX-53)
Two AAA batteries (DuraMax Heavy Duty brand)
Three 6 inch long 12-hour light sticks (Omniglow, Snaplight brand)

Warmth and Shelter
Two emergency blankets, 84 inch x 52 inch
Two adult emergency ponchos

First Aid and Sanitation
One first-aid kit (First Aid Only brand)
Twelve moist towlettes (First Aid Only brand)

The Ready Gear pre-assembled emergency kit may be customized for the individual purchaser by adding essential personal items, such as an extra pair of eyeglasses or contacts with cleaning solution, prescription medications, a change of clothing and comfortable shoes. For more information on getting prepared, visit www.redcross.org.

About the American Red Cross
Governed by volunteers and supported by community donations, the American Red Cross is a nationwide network of nearly 900 field units dedicated to saving lives and helping people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Led by 1 million volunteers and 36,000 employees, the Red Cross annually mobilizes relief to families affected by more than 70,000 disasters, trains approximately 12 million people in lifesaving skills and keeps U.S. military families connected worldwide. The Red Cross is the largest supplier of blood and blood products to more than 3,000 hospitals across the nation and also assists victims of international disasters and conflicts at locations worldwide. Marsha J. Evans is the president and CEO of the American Red Cross.

About The Home Depot
Founded in 1978, The Home Depot® is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer and the second largest retailer in the United States, with fiscal 2003 sales of $64.8 billion. The company employs approximately 300,000 associates and has 1,815 stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, eight Canadian provinces and Mexico. The company recently announced the creation of a business development operation for retail expansion into China. Its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor's 500 Index.