As I was saying …

The second annual National Roofing Week celebrates charitable works performed by NRCA members.

In 2014, NRCA announced the creation of National Roofing Week, a first-ever attempt to help tell the story of our industry and the good work our members do, every day, in their communities. As part of the effort, we conducted an art contest for children; it was a resounding success and resulted in some absolutely incredible entries. We also were able to perform some important roof system repairs on LYDIA Home, a Chicago-based facility that takes in children from troubled families.

Building on that success, this year NRCA established the week of July 5-11 as the second National Roofing Week. Another children's art contest was announced with double the amount of entries than a year ago coming from throughout the U.S. Look for the winners—and other entries—on NRCA's website, www.nrca.net.

In addition, former NRCA President Nelson Braddy, president of King of Texas Roofing, Grand Prairie, Texas, led the effort to provide a new roof system for the Momentous Institute, a Dallas-area organization that serves troubled youth. Thanks to material donations from Johns Manville, Rmax Insulation, OMG Roofing Products and Roofing Supply Group and support from the Polyisocyanurate Insulation Manufacturers Association and EPDM Roofing Association, the roof system installation was completed in June. The retail value was well into six figures.

Students at the Momentous Institute, the site of
NRCA's 2015 National Roofing Week kickoff project

And NRCA member Rick Birkman, president of Texas Roofing Co., Austin, is leading the effort to provide the roof system on a memorial being built at Fort Hood, the site of a mass shooting in 2009.

National Roofing Week is about more than doing charity work, but the charity work helps spotlight the type of things NRCA members are asked to do all the time. And the week helps create awareness of the things that separate professional roofing contractors from the others, such as commitments to their communities.

In only its second year, National Roofing Week has generated a significant amount of national media attention. Going forward, we will be providing tools to NRCA members to help them showcase their best projects. And we will continue to solicit photos and videos of work our members have performed to better tell the story of how crucial the roofing industry is to the fabric of U.S. life.

We know our members are helping their communities in all sorts of ways every day. We also know most members don't have public relations departments and aren't issuing press releases when they perform charitable work; rather, they understand it is a part of what is expected of them.

We're proud to help tell that story. And we're even prouder that it seems to be resonating so well. In fact, let's do it again next year.

Bill Good is NRCA's CEO.

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