Focus

For the fourth year, NRCA and CNA, Chicago, have partnered to co-sponsor the 2016 CNA/NRCA Community Involvement Award, which celebrates good deeds committed by NRCA members. If you are an NRCA contractor member, you are eligible to participate, and I urge you to apply.

Any charitable project, activity or donation completed between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 can be submitted for consideration in the awards program. The deadline for submissions is Dec. 31.

The winning charity will receive $5,000. Two honorable mentions will each receive $1,000. Projects, activities or donations do not have to involve roofing work.

For example, Delta Exteriors, St. Louis, won the 2015 CNA/NRCA Community Involvement Award for working closely with Stray Rescue of St. Louis to help save abandoned and neglected animals. The company gave a monetary donation and also created a marketing campaign that noted for every roof completed, Delta Exteriors would pay for the adoption process of an animal.

And Oklahoma Roofing and Sheet Metal, Oklahoma City, winner of the 2014 award, hosted children of military personnel for a day of horseback riding, livestock and ranching education, and buggy rides for its Horseback Heroes event, which is co-sponsored by the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation.

Award submissions must include supporting information regarding the charitable work performed (a minimum 100-word description is required). In addition, a testimonial letter from the receiving charity should explain how the charitable work or donation helped its operations. Entries also should include additional material such as photographs, press clippings, video, etc. A panel of judges from CNA and NRCA will determine the winner and honorable mentions.

In addition to recognizing the good deeds of contractor members, the Community Involvement Awards help improve the roofing industry's image, which is much-needed and a long-standing NRCA goal. And even if your company doesn't win an award, letting us know about your charitable projects helps us tell the story of professional roofing contractors giving back to their communities.

The awards will be presented during NRCA's Industry Awards Ceremony and Cocktail Reception, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016, during NRCA's 129th Annual Convention in Orlando, Fla. For more information, contact Charlotte Norgaard, NRCA's media relations manager, at (847) 493-7548 or go to www.nrca.net/roofing/CNA-NRCA-Community-Involvement-Award-722.

Ambika Puniani Bailey is editor of Professional Roofing and NRCA's vice president of communications and production.