Capital Finishing helps food banks with Thanksgiving

ARNPRIOR – Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate the harvest with the focus on food, but for many in our community the weekend is another moment that shines the spotlight on their ongoing struggle of doing without.

For McNab-Braeside-based builder Brad Shane, owner of Capital Finishing Construction, when he and his wife Jessica started the business, they made it a goal and a priority to give back to the community that supports their business.

Yesterday (Oct. 6), while dropping off a pick-up truck full of groceries at the Arnprior Food Bank with the help of his son Chris, he saw firsthand how big that need is.

“It was a bit of a surprise,” Brad told West Carleton Online looking at the long line of people waiting even before the food bank had opened its doors. “I’ve been fortunate enough that I’ve never had to stand in one of these lines. So, I consider myself very lucky for that. In a place like Arnprior, I honestly did not know what to expect. I didn’t think there would be a huge draw, and I’m shocked to see the size of the line when I got here today.”

Capital Finishing is about six years old serving the Ottawa Valley from renovations, finishes, designs and builds, and Brad felt his business and his network was ready to start giving back to the community.

“A few years ago, we decided to open our own construction business and one of the things my wife and I talked about is making sure the company has a social conscience,” Brad said.  “So, this is the first step in us doing that. We intend to run a food drive once, maybe twice a year, with the help of our clients. Our business partners also donated, all of the sub-trades like plumbers and electricians, and people like that, that we do business with on a weekly basis, and in all honesty, the response was overwhelming.”

Capital Finishing doubled the donations it received, and you can only imagine, with today’s prices, what a truckload of groceries would cost. This time, Brad and Jessica chose to split the donation between the Arnprior and Stittsville food banks.

“So, my wife Jessica, who’s our office manager, this was really her brainchild,” Brad said. “All I did was drive around and load some food in the truck and bring it here. She’s really the one that deserves all the credit for this.”

Thanksgiving seemed like the right time to make the donation.

“Well, with Thanksgiving around the corner, sadly, sometimes the holidays are a reminder for people of how tough life can be,” Brad said. “So, I thought this would be a good time around the holidays to see if we can help some families. So, some families can enjoy some time together and not worry about the cost of a Thanksgiving dinn-er.”

For more information on Capital Finishing, visit their website here.