ORIGINAL BLOG POST, January 2011:

Recently I attended the Annual Business Conference put on by the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce. It was a fantastic event with a number of great speakers and insightful presentations.

It was during Casey Sheahan’s (CEO of Patagonia) presentation that the idea of 1% Close To Home came to mind. Casey was talking about the incredibly successful 1% For the Planet initiative that was started by Patagonia, in which companies commit 1% of their GROSS revenue to approved environmental causes.

My wife Nicki and I have always practiced giving a portion of our income to charitable organizations and events, giving till it hurts as the saying goes, but I began to wonder what our company’s policy, if any, should look like. Although we are concerned about environmental causes, the focus of 1% FTP seemed too narrow. What is truly important to Umbrella Roofing, it’s employees, and owners?

The only answer is OUR COMMUNITY! The community that has blessed us so greatly with the opportunity to live and work in the Roaring Fork Valley. This is where our heart lies and so it follows that this is where our giving will occur.

So here goes – BEGINNING JANUARY 1ST 2011 UMBRELLA ROOFING WILL GIVE 1% OF IT’S GROSS REVENUE TO ROARING FORK VALLEY NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND EVENTS. There. I said it.

Customers don’t worry! We will not be raising our prices to offset this new budget line item. It will only affect our bottom line, and the real bottom line is that we are a part of this community. You may, however, feel free to feel good about doing business with us.

1% Close To Home – it’s going to be awesome!

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Stay tuned as we update monthly where the funds have been distributed. We will be choosing them ourselves for now, but are always interested in our customer’s input and suggestions.

We’re all in this together!

2011 Recipients:

January – Pregnancy Resource Center, Glenwood Springs, $680

February – We kept it really local, with some of our Carbondale favorites! A total of $950 to the following: Carbondale Center for Arts and Humanities, KDNK, The Sopris Sun, Mount Sopris Historical Society, and Mt Sopris Nordic Council (Spring Gulch)

March – Crystal River Elementary playground build – $2000

April – Aspen Valley Medical Foundation – $1500 towards the Hope Center and Hospice

May – Aspen Valley Ski Club – $1250 and Windwalkers – $1250

June – Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers – $1000 and Pete Hinojosa/ALS – $1000

July – Youth Zone – $1000 and Houses for Higher Education – $1000

August – Buddy Program – $1000 and Bridges High School – $1000

UPDATE!! June 2012 (I am not very good at regular updates – sorry) We ultimately donated over $20,000 for 2011, and are on track for more than that in 2012. The response has been great and we will soon begin challenging other businesses as well.

Please call us if you would like to learn more!