JOPLIN, Mo. — TAMKO Building Products, Mayberry Construction and dozens of generous individuals worked together to ease the burdens of a hardworking single mother by providing the materials and labor to install a new roof — just in time for #GivingTuesday.
According to the company, the roof was in desperate need of repairs and the estimated cost to replace the shingles was $15,000. The homeowner was looking for a second job to pay for the repair costs when a community effort to replace her roof took off.
“No one person could do it all, but we all did what we could, and together it made a world of difference to her,” said Jeff Koch, a member of Christ’s Community Methodist Church where the Joplin mother attends, and the person who started the effort to get her a new roof.
TAMKO, headquartered in Joplin for nearly 75 years, donated the roofing for the project, and Mayberry Construction, a well-known local builder, donated the installation. Dozens of community and church members donated toward the rest of the project costs and the roof was completed just in time for the homeowner to celebrate Thanksgiving with her children in their newly-repaired home just days before #GivingTuesday.
Created by the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact in New York City in 2012, #GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration. Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday is meant to kick off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving.
“We’ve been in Joplin for nearly 75 years – the people here are our neighbors, co-workers and friends,” said David Humphreys, TAMKO President and CEO. “When we see a need in our community, we love to help out where we can.”
Jake Mayberry of Mayberry Construction said there’s something special about getting to meet a need in your own community.
“This is our community, and we feel, both as individuals and as a business, that it is important to help each other out,” he said.
The need was brought to Mayberry and TAMKO’s attention through a local nonprofit organization that described the recipient as a “Single mom trying her best to be a provider. She is the kind of person that we love to take care of. She is not a person that expects to get something for nothing.”
TAMKO also has recently helped others in need, including a veteran in Texas, a nonprofit that provides service dogs for disabled veterans, and three others desperately in need of new roofs.