JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A retired Navy veteran in Jacksonville should sleep easier now that a new roof has been put over his head at his home on the Westside.
Alton Cook’s roof was leaking, so much so that he had buckets set up around his house to catch rainwater. American Legion Post 137 coordinated the effort to fix the roof, securing supplies from The Home Depot and enlisting Golden Hammer Roofing to help put it all together.
“He was dumping out buckets,” said Sher Arbogast, a neighbor. “An 87-year-old man does not deserve to empty buckets.”
“We’ve had holes in the ceiling, tarps on the roof, trying to get everything done for a couple of years now,” said Cook’s daughter-in-law, Jeanie.
The neighbor and two fellow veterans, both members of American Legion 137, got the ball rolling.
“I had a couple of tarps in the garage. I thought maybe we would just try to get the leaking to stop," said Rita Robbs with American Legion 137. "I put a Facebook notice out, nine people showed up. It was amazing.”
But that was just a bandage. Robbs called The Home Depot, knowing the company supports veterans.
“They met me right where I was at," Robbs said. "They covered all the OSB boards. They covered all the shingles. They covered all the felt paper.”
Then she called Golden Hammer Roofing. The local company, owned by veterans, was eager to help.
“Our mission statement is to give back to the communities in which we work and live," said Dania Fadeley with Golden Hammer Roofing. "And we are very happy to be able to do that.”
And they did it all -- in one day!