Thumbs up to a couple of major retail companies – Wal-Mart andHome Depot – for putting their money where their mouth is when they say they have local communities at heart.

Example 1: The Black Diamond Police Department was running out of money to pay for its K-9 program – officer Kris Chatterson and Sabre, who is trained to sniff out illegal drugs. Chatterson noted that his four-legged partner with superhero-like sense of smell is a key to early intervention in drug trafficking and rooting out scourges like methamphetamine before they can worm their way into the community.

County Councilman Reagan Dunn, whose district includes Black Diamond, couldn’t direct any county funds to the K-9 unit. The county’s budget is tight, too. But he suggested Wal-Mart, which makes financial donations for worthy non-profit, community-based needs. Result: The giant discount retailer came through with $3,000 to underwrite the K-9 program for the rest of the year.

Helping protect communities “is extremely important to us,” said Dan Roseborough, a Wal-Mart marketing manager.

Example 2: Home Depot opened for business in Covington June 26 and promptly donated a combined $3,000 for two very worthy organizations. A thousand went to the Relay for Life of Covington, Maple Valley and Black Diamond, providing a sizable boost to the local walkathon for the American Cancer Society. And the other $2,000 was handed to the Alzheimer’s Association, partly because the father of the store’s manager has battled the disease.

Home Depot and Wal-Mart are big businesses first. They don’t have to be financial angels. But they see the wisdom and the value in human terms of giving back to the communities of their customers. It’s a nice touch.

Editor Pat Jenkins