Neighbourhood Heroes tend to notice when others need help and they are usually first in line to see what they can do and, when something needs doing and it seems like it can't be done, Neighbourhood Heroes often find a way to make it happen.

That pretty much sums up what Lee Odgers had to say when he nominated Blake Erickson of Blake Erickson Roofing as today's Neighbourhood Hero. Lee knows because his Serauxmen Club helped make one of those "it can't be done because there's no budget to do it" projects happen.

That project was a new roof over a children's play area at the Child Development Centre.

Before I talked to Blake or Valerie Massey, the Executive Director at the CDC, I spoke to two other people at agencies Blake has helped.

Teresa Pring at the Boys and Girls Club sang Blake's praises.

"He's a shining example of what every community business person could be," she enthused. "I admire his willingness to help many different charities and organizations and what I admire about him in terms of the Boys and Girls Club is the extreme conscientiousness both he and all of his staff showed when they put a new roof on our Fifth Street building. They went above and beyond to make sure that they did not interfere with any of our programs as they did their work and Blake came back several times after the work was done to make sure that everything was OK."

Jane Templeton, the Executive Director of Haven House, had similar comments after Blake's company put a new roof on their shelter home.

"They did a fabulous job," she told me. "They were very appropriate and polite and they went out of their way to accommodate our needs."

All that said, this nomination came about because of a special effort Blake made at the Child Development Centre to make sure that a new roof over a children's outdoor play area got built even though there was no budget to do it. Blake could see the job had to be done because leaks were interfering with programs every time it rained.

With a commitment from his staff to volunteer their time, something they often do, Blake began to approach other companies for help.

"Once I decided to roll up my sleeves and get going," he smiled, it was nice to realize that I live in a community where so many people are willing to step up to the plate.

The companies that got involved with the CDC project include: Fournier Excavating, David's Gutter Service, Lantzville Home Building Centre, Pay-Less Pro Painting, DBL Disposal, A 1 Septic, The Serauxmen Service Club and of course Blake Erickson Roofing.

It's obvious that Blake gets a genuine charge out of helping others especially not-for-profit organizations that help children and his staff, friends and colleagues have picked up on that energy.

I want to watch my words very carefully as I repeat what Blake told me.

"It's a win, win, win situation," he said. "There's no down side at all. It's good for the moral of my staff, good for the community and good for my company. Anyone that wants their business to flourish in Nanaimo should look around and see what they can do for their community. The payback is pretty good."

And that's absolutely true. However if your motivation is simply to gain new business, it's guaranteed to backfire. Your desire to help must come straight from the heart and everyone I've talked to says the same thing about Blake Erickson. He’s the genuine article. He does what he does because he loves his community and he is committed to doing what he can to make a difference.