For the third time in the last three years, Lincoln University has won some cash from the Home Depot's 5-year-old "Retool Your School" campaign.
LU was one of 13 schools winning a "Tier II" grant of $10,000, the Home Depot company announced this month.
The Jefferson City school thanked Lincoln students, alumni and supporters on its Facebook page, for casting votes in the online, social media contest, and said the money "will be used for beautification efforts around the residence halls."
The Home Depot "Retool Your School" contest is designed for the nation's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), to raise money for campus improvement and beautification projects.
"We continue to get very thoughtful and creative proposals for projects to preserve and improve some of America's most historic campuses and landmarks," Melissa Brown, manager of Home Depot's Multicultural Marketing section, said in the news release.
The top prize, $50,000, went to Knoxville College in Knoxville, Tennessee, "to remodel the lower atrium of the Alumni Library by updating the floors, restrooms, doors and landscaping in front of the building," the Home Depot news release said.
Three schools - Howard University, Washington, D.C.; Morris Brown College, Atlanta; and Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama - won $20,000 each in the "Campus Pride" division.
Lincoln's 5,369 votes placed the school 32nd of the 58 HBCUs involved in the competition.
But the company's news release noted the "winners were chosen by a combination of online voting, social media activity and proposal reviews by a distinguished panel of judges."
Brown said: "The Home Depot is moved every year by the HBCU community's passionate response to this program, as well as by the proposals submitted by the schools.
After thanking supporters on its Facebook page for their efforts to win the competition, Lincoln also said: "Your assistance will be needed again in the near future to put the grant money to use. Stay tuned for updates on how you can continue to help Retool Our School."