Tuesday, March 13, 2012

In Jacksonville’s ‘Gift of Color’ Election Campaign, Everyone’s a Winner

Here’s some refreshing election news, free of negative advertising, far-fetched promises or unfounded accusations.

Down in Jacksonville, Fla., the voting public and local painting contractor Performance Painting Contractors Inc. found common ground in deciding who should win a free paint makeover from the company.

The voters—participants in the Performance Painting/Money Pages magazine Gift of Color Giveaway—threw their support behind the no-kill non-profit animal shelter First Coast No More Homeless Pets as a top candidate for the $7,500 interior paint job.

In response, Performance Painting volunteers swung into action on March 3, giving most of the shelter’s interior a fresh coat of paint, Marc Chapman, the company’s office manager, told Durability + Design.

The road to the Gift of Color Giveaway got under way at the end of November 2011 when Performance Painting began accepting nominations of worthy projects for the program.

The nomination period ended Dec. 18, and was followed by casting of votes on the favorite nominees by the public, who submitted their choices on the company’s website.

Performance Painting Contractors Inc.employees are joined by representatives of First Coast No More Homeless Pets, the winner of the Performance Painting/Money Pages Gift of Color Painting Makeover.

Performance Painting made the final call, choosing the winner from five finalists getting the most votes.

It was a choice few of the voters were likely to argue with.

“With a goal of Jacksonville being a ‘no-kill’ city, they [First Coast No More Homeless Pets, or FCNMHP] have made giant leaps in their efforts to reduce the number of animals euthanized from 24,000 per year to less than 8,000,” Performance Painting said in announcing the winner.

The shelter offers low-cost and free spay/neuter programs and affordable pet health care, and in March 2010 opened the Jacksonville Pet Food Bank, providing qualified low-income families with pet food “so that they may keep their pets in this challenging economy,” Performance Painting says, adding, “Over 294,000 pounds of food have been distributed to more than 4,000 pets.”

More information on FCNMHP: www.fcnmhp.org.

Performance Painting is a commercial and residential painting contractor offering custom interior and exterior painting, wallpaper removal, faux finishes, concrete and stucco repair, and other finish work in Jacksonville and surrounding communities. The company’s website is www.performance-painting.com.

A salute to FCNMHP and Performance Painting for the work they do.

Now there’s a nomination and election outcome that we can’t howl in protest about.