After 30 years of success, Tim Lawrence, CGR, GMB, CAPS, president of Blue Ridge Home Improvement, Blacksburg, Va., figured it was time to give back to all the people that have made him and his company a success for 30 years. One single “thank you” wouldn’t do, so instead he set forth to celebrate 30 times; once for each year he’s been in business.

“We had what we called ‘30 Days of Thanksgiving for 30 Years of Success’ that consisted of 30 events, big and small, throughout the year to thank the three different groups that are critical to our business,” says Lawrence. “One obviously being our customers, the second being our employees, and the third being our trade partners and vendors.”

To start with, each month Blue Ridge Home Improvement did a drawing from its list of previous customers and donated to a local food bank in their names. That was 12 events, one each month. Lawrence felt it was important to do something for the community, especially with all the publicity surrounding the low stockpiles at food banks because of the down economy.

“The food bank was something I felt comfortable being involved with and it was something I felt would meet a need that could benefit someone directly,” explains Lawrence. “Local food banks generally don’t have a lot of administrative costs and work on volunteers. This way the bulk of our efforts would go to someone who needed it.”

Right after Thanksgiving, Lawrence put together a large food drive by asking the three critical groups to help fill the company dump truck with food for the food bank. For those who wished to participate, the company went around collecting the food during one day and was able to bring about 100 boxes of food to the local bank.

Among the other events that Lawrence orchestrated were a breakfast for all of the company’s trade partners and an overnight gold prospecting trip to North Carolina for his employees and their families. Lawrence also held a “thank you” reception at a recently completed project where everyone could tour the home and spend an evening of appreciation.

Lawrence has been a member of the NAHB for about 12 to 15 years he says and a member of the Remodeler 20 Club for 11 years. He said that it was a trip to a remodeling show that really introduced him to the problems facing the remodeling industry across the nation and further education, giving him the push he needed to join the NAHB.