The card arrived in the mail from England and when Josh Eiswerth opened it out popped a $20 bill.
It was one of the first donations he received for the Pay It Forward, Welcome Home Project his company is spearheading with the Prince George Cougars to build a new house for a deserving local family that doesn't have one.
"That got me super-excited," said Eiswerth, owner of Ridgeline Roofing, at a Thursday news conference at the Kin Centre Atrium. "The card didn't say how he was connected to Prince George and it shows we have the power through our businesses and social media to get the word out."
The May 31 4 p.m. deadline is fast approaching for people to nominate families for the project. A panel of judges will choose the winning family and on the weekend of the Cougars' season-opening games in September that family will be handed the keys to a modest-sized, energy-efficient home in a central Prince George location, which will be theirs to keep.
Cougars business vice-president Andy Beesley said close to 30 nominations have been received and he would like to see many more forms filled out before the deadline.
"All we're asking you to do is think of other people," he said. "Pay it forward in your own way by considering someone you think might use this to provide a major break in their lives. By spending a few minutes to fill out that form, you may be responsible for changing somebody's life in a pretty profound way."
Nomination forms are available on the Cougars website at http://pgcougars.com/pay-it-forward-welcome-home-project/.
The Welcome Home Project has captured the imagination of local tradespeople and building material suppliers who have jumped on board to make it happen and the list of local businesses and donors wanting to support the project with their labour, materials or their chequebooks continues to grow. The goal is to raise $200,000 in cash to cover the lot purchase, property taxes and pay some of the construction costs of the community initiative. A GoFundMe page has been created and Eiswerth is confident there will be enough money to complete the house by the end of the summer.
Ridgeline has already replaced two house roofs for economically-disadvantaged families the past two years in a promotion sponsored by the Cougars. Two single moms will get their new shingles this weekend. The company also donated the roof for the Prince George Hospice Society home lottery. Eiswerth said he was inspired by his father and grandfather who worked as contractors in the city and donated their time and money to worthwhile causes. He says he continues to see the generosity of his business contacts in their willingness to support community initiatives.
Tackling an entire house build means there's more risk involved and Eiswerth said he was prepared to take out a mortgage if that's what it took. But that won't be necessary. Within a week of the announcement of the project in mid-March he had 20 businesses involved.
"The response from our local contractors and businesses has been nothing short of amazing," said Eiswerth. "When Ridgeline took on this project we knew we would have lots of support, but the speed and enthusiasm we've seen from everyone has been unbelievably encouraging and exciting. We can't wait to get the shovels in the ground and get this home built."
The Cougars are handling all the administrative tasks of organizing and promoting the project and have come up with some of the fundraising ideas. The project is still in need of a concrete supplier and a few other details need to be arranged. On moving day, Ridgeline employees will be on hand to move the belongings of the winning family.
"The amazing thing about this project is that we knew people would want to come on board but what shocked us was the speed and the quantity of people who have come on board," said Beesley. "For all of us involved in this, this is not a sales promotion technique, this is just about wanting to be part of a great city and pay to back to people. In light of these horrible events that have happened in the hockey world these last few weeks (referring to the Humboldt Broncos bus accident and the cancer-related death of former Cougar captain Brock Hirsche), this is a great example of how privileged we are to be able to give back a little bit.
"It's nice to see like-minded people in our city join forces together and to feel as if we are maybe making a bit of a difference in our little corner of the world."
For more information call Ridgeline Roofing (250-981-8928) or the Cougars office (250-561-0783) or email [email protected].
