BUTTE, Mont. – When it comes to honoring their veterans by providing them with a quality place to call home, Butte, America knows how to literally raise the roof.
If you passed through the streets of Uptown Butte on Wednesday morning, you may have seen a collection of craftsmen hard at work on a housetop.
The home in question belongs to army veteran Jake Reul, and for the brand-new roof he received, he didn’t pay a penny.
“Jake was in need of a roof, big time,” said Owens Corning roofing sales representative Joe Runde. “The home inspector, when he bought the house, failed to take a look at it, and the roof was in very bad shape. We’re out here to try to help him out today.”
This repair is the latest for the Roof Deployment Project, a nationwide initiative to give back to the veterans who protected our freedom by fixing up the roofs that protect their houses.
“It’s a full roof replacement,” Runde said. “We tear it down to the deck, put some new sheeting up there, and build it all right back up–all the way up to the shingles and finish it off.”
A project like this coming to the Mining City is especially noteworthy, considering the delay in funding for an extra cottage at Butte’s Southwest Montana Veterans Home.
“They’ve done so much for us, yet I feel like sometimes we do so little when it comes to them coming back home,” Runde said. “I’m definitely honored to be able to take part in this and just help Jake out here today.”
Wednesday’s operation in Butte is just the second such in the Treasure State after an initial restoration in Ronan last Friday, but the Roof Deployment Project is hopeful that many more Montana veterans will take advantage of the opportunity.
If you know of a veteran whose roof is in need of a makeover, you can shoot an email to [email protected], and that shabby bunch of shingles will be shining in no time at all.