Rainstoppers Roofing is giving a brand new roof to a Trimble resident as part of its first Ugly Roof contest, choosing James Riley, a resource officer at Trimble Local Schools, as the winner, the Athens Messenger reported.
The company combed through a list of roofs throughout Southeast Ohio and chose Riley’s after learning the shingles had been on the house since he moved in nearly 10 years ago, said Jake Binegar, the company’s marketing director.
In Binegar’s assessment, the roof was overdue well beyond that decade. The shingles looked as if they had been on for another 10 to 20 years beyond the time Riley has lived there, he said, adding that the company is happy it will be able to fix it.
Rainstoppers Roofing will install Riley’s new roof within the next few months, Binegar added, after coordinating with him to ensure the work happens around his schedule at the school district.
The idea for the contest emerged during a conversation between Binegar and Scott Tebay, the owner of Rainstoppers Roofing, when the two came up with the idea of giving away a brand new roof to someone who needed it, the Messenger reported.
Although this is the first time the company has held this particular competition, it is not its first giveaway. Rainstoppers has previously given away free roofs to veterans and a free full exterior of roof, siding and gutters to a foster family, Tebay explained.
Tebay described the approach as community-driven: the company does a quick bit of reaching out to people who know a lot of people in the community, tries to understand where it could be of help, and then helps, he said.
For Riley, whose work as a school resource officer puts him in daily contact with Trimble students and families, the prize means a long-overdue repair handled at no cost — and a house ready for the Southeast Ohio winter ahead once the installation is scheduled.
Photo: Samuel Bolton, CC BY-SA 4.0