Donating time, money and more

By Emma Peterson.

Sharing four stories of roofers caught in the act of doing good.  

There are many reasons we love being a part of the roofing industry, but one of the biggest is the incredible people we get to meet. Roofers are truly some of the most generous people, working hard day-in and day-out to keep people safe and dry. Recently, we heard some incredible stories of contractors who have gone above and beyond to give back and care for their communities and we wanted share them with you!

1 - A free roof replacement

Betty Blackburn got a roof installed back in 2011, but something wasn’t quite right. When the Knoxville, Tennessee homeowner started experiencing issues with the roof, she didn’t know what to do — another new roof was way out of the budget. That’s where local company Barnett Roofing came into the picture. They helped Betty out and replaced the roof for her, free of charge!  

Aaron Brown, one of the production managers at Barnett shared a bit about the project with WVLT8, saying, “We showed up at about 6:30, and we just started. I actually had one of our employees, Mike, bring a dumpster by, and we took all the shingles off the roof and loaded up a trailer. We did have to put all new LSB up on her roof because the roof she had was in pretty bad shape. The wood was delaminating."

2 - A $30,000 donation

In October 2024, a Milwaukie, Wisconsin roofing company made the decision to set aside 5% of their sales for donation. As October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, Exterior Pros Exteriors and Bath decided that they would give the money to the Susan G. Komen Wisconsin organization. Susan G. Komen is a breast cancer awareness organization that advocates for patients fighting breast cancer and funds the research of treatments.  

Fast forward to Wednesday, November 13, Exterior Pros presented Susan G. Komen Wisconsin with a check of $30,0000. Robin Luther, the organization’s development director shared with CBS58 Milwaukee what the gift means for their mission, saying, “We depend on that kind of work to make it possible for people to get what they need, it's really- truly extends lives, saves lives it's the work. It's all the people that help us who are the real heroes.”

3 - The gift of a new roof

Our third story of roofers doing good comes from the last holiday season. Alburquerque, New Mexico homeowner Irene Mestas was already having a hard month. She lost her husband of 30 years and the letter from her homeowners' insurance was the straw that broke the camel’s back. She recalled to KOAT7, “Things just seemed to snowball. They were going to drop my insurance by January 5, 2025, if I didn't redo my whole roof. With no funds, there was no way it was going to happen. I started looking into agencies that could possibly help me. Nobody could."

With no options left, Irene gave it one last shot and called local contractor Rocky Mountain Roofing. When Shiloh Alvarado, owner of the business, heard her story, there was no question about what to do. “We thought, you know, we're in the Christmas season. This is what it's all about. I collaborated with one of our suppliers, and they brought all the materials up for free of charge. So, we brought our labor and put it on,” they shared.

Because of their kindness, Irene got the best Christmas gift, a safe roof over her head for the holidays and years beyond. She explained, “All I could do is cry, you know, just out of happiness. Because the last quote I got was, like $17,000. To see them doing this for nothing, you know, people don't do that. It's like winning the lottery.”

4 - A community coming together

Our last story comes from Detroit, Michigan and is a true community effort. For most of 2024, Hannah Fleck had been trying to find a way to help her 94-year-old neighbor get a new roof as the current one was leaking and rain was getting into her bedroom. Hannah had tried everything she could think of, seeking financial aid from the city, FEMA and even a GoFundMe. But up until December of 2024, all she had been able to get done was a patch job.

What changed in December? Roofman Construction saw a program on FOX 2 Detroit about the story. As soon as Lucas Graves saw the story he knew what to do. He explained to FOX 2 Detroit, “She was in need. It’s Christmastime. We’re just doing anything we can to help. She had an income of $12,000 a year, obviously that's not enough for a replacement; a repair world be roughly that itself.”

Now, after months of advocacy and some hard work from the Roofman crew, the crumbling roof has been replaced with a new, secure roof free of charge. Hannah was just happy that her neighbor was finally safe, and shared, “I want to thank FOX 2, the viewers and Roofman Construction. This is awesome. I didn’t think it would get done this quickly. I’m just so emotional. I just hope this is a message for everyone to be kind, if you see someone in need, be kind. Step up. It’s not always about us.”

Original photo sources in order of appearance: FOX 2 (cover), WVLT8, CBS58 Milwaukee and FOX 2