The renowned homebuilder says they have received very positive feedback from their customers for the pay-it-forward program they launched in the run-up to Christmas 2010, when they sent hundreds of their customers $500 cheques with the challenge of using the money in any way they feel best to help out in the community. 

“We’ve had a very positive response to this initiative, dozens of our customers have written back to us saying how they’ve used the money to help those who needed it most during the holidays,” says Cedarglen’s Sabrina Royer.

Cedarglen Homes President Scott Haggins says he and his staff began the innovative community-building initiative last year with the company’s trades and suppliers. This year, Cedarglen Homes focused on its customers.

“The holidays make us think about sharing and going above and beyond the give back to the communities in which we live,” Haggins says in the letter sent to customers.

It was totally up to each person to decide what to do with the money, he says, and by-and-large, people have been paying it forward. The Snell family from Calgary says  in a reply letter to the company that they were able to help two families through their church with the money they received from Cedarglen. The Shumay family also wrote that they bought gifts for students and their families at a junior high school.

Cedarglen Homes says it’s been such a success, it will continue the initiative in some form this year.