SAN ANTONIO – A lesson in corporate responsibility inspired a veteran-owned business to give back to nonprofits and charities in the San Antonio area.
Good As New Exterior Cleaning is saying “thank you” to the community through power washing and scrubbing windows.
Craig Lightcap is a veteran and the owner of the exterior cleaning company. At least one day a month, Lightcap offers his services pro-bono to a nonprofit nominated by the community. On Sunday, he hauled his equipment to the city’s West Side.
“We’re going to be cleaning the Boys and Girls Club (of San Antonio West Side campus) out here,” Lightcap said. “We’re going to be (cleaning) all the sidewalks there. They look pretty bad right now (and) need some attention, and we’re also going to (clean) all the windows on the exterior just to make the building pops and look good.”
Sunday’s work was done at no cost as part of a campaign he launched nearly two years ago.
“It’s a campaign that we started… called Clean It Forward,” Lightcap said. “Throughout the month we get several nominations or requests (from the community)… and we’ll take a look at it. If we’re not booked that month, we’ll (schedule) it.”
Nominations are submitted through the company website’s comments section. Lightcap said the event has grown in popularity, giving room to collaborate with other businesses.
“We started reaching out to other companies that we network with, like landscapers and then other cleaning companies that are competitors, and it’s taken off,” Lightcap said.
For Lightcap, giving back and supporting local is part of his company’s mission and a lesson he learned years ago.
“In college, my business law professor who was a judge, one of the lessons that really stuck with me was on corporate responsibility,” Lightcap said. “The responsibility of businesses (is) to give back to the communities that support them… The main goal is just inspire everybody to get involved (and) give back. I mean, as a business owner, the community supports us, and, in my opinion, we’re obligated to give back.”
On Sunday, his business competitor Ben Wonser with Right Way Cleaning in Boerne joined the campaign’s efforts. Together, the companies had two volunteers, several power washing rigs and more equipment to get the job done in a few hours.
“We’ll both have employees on hand,” Lightcap said. “We’ll knock it out pretty quickly.”
A job carefully done for the students at the Boys and Girls Club of San Antonio’s West Side campus. On Monday afternoon they’ll be greeted with good as new sidewalks and clear windows.
“They’ll probably have a little sense of pride (like), ‘Wow, this place looks nice,’” Lightcap said. “That’s what we’re shooting for.”
The company is accepting nominations on their website for the months ahead. Nonprofits in need of cleaning can submit their request for the Clean It Forward campaign on the “Contact Us” tab found here.
Nominations must include name of the organization, the reason for the nomination and contact information. Lightcap can also be contacted through his company’s Facebook page.
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