When thieves hit a Habitat for Humanity location in Bloomington, Ind., last week, it was a local roofing contractor that came to the rescue.
Fox-affiliated WXIN caught up with Wendi Goodlett, CEO of Habitat for Humanity in Monroe County, who explained two of the nonprofit’s trucks were parked outside of the Bloomington ReStore center, which sells donated items like furniture, last Wednesday.
That night, brazen thieves removed and stole the catalytic converters from the trucks, rendering them inoperable.
“They definitely knew who they were stealing from. They came onto our property, at our ReStore and stole from clearly marked vehicles,” Goodlett told WXIN.
The damage not only left the nonprofit with at least $5,000 in repairs, but they were unable to pick up donations to be sold in the ReStore location. All money from ReStore sales goes toward building affordable Habitat for Humanity homes for people in need.
“Our revenue is impacted when we aren’t able to pick up donations. We had to make phone calls to all our donors for that day and the coming days to say we are not able to come pick up your donations,” Goodlett said.
Word spread about the crime on social media, which is where RCV Roofing owner Jay Nelson heard the news. RCV Roofing has worked with the Habitat for Humanity office for years, whether it was for Owens Corning Roof Deployment Project roofs, providing free labor to help Habitat eliminate poverty through the creation of affordable housing, or its five-year cash donation commitment it made to the nonprofit in 2019.
Nelson told RC when he heard the news of the robbery and the damaged trucks, he knew RCV Roofing had to help.
“I immediately just reached out to Wendi, the CEO, to see a little more details about if they had any plans to fix them, and they really didn’t know what to do or who to call,” Nelson said.
With that in mind, Nelson stepped up and told Goodlett that RCV Roofing would take care of the repair bill for the trucks. WXIN reports Goodlett was grateful for the help, especially during such tough times.
“Stressful times like this bring out the worst in people but the great thing is we’ve seen is it also brings out the best in people,” said Goodlett.
In addition to the Roof Deployment Project and its involvement with Habitat, RCV Roofing helps the community through its Correct-A-Roof campaign that provides a free roof replacement to a household facing difficult circumstances. Most recently, during National Pay It Forward Day in April, RCV Roofing provided local law enforcement, fire department, EMS, nurses, doctors and medical staff with $7,000 worth of gift cards to thank them for keeping the community safe and healthy during the pandemic.
“The community as a whole has done a lot for us, there’s our customers, there’s the support, we’re really prideful in doing a good job for the community and we’ve got a lot of good feedback back on how we run our business,” Nelson said. “It’s really important for us to give back.”
