My first (and second) roof donations with NWIR!

By Lauren White. 

As a newly established NWIR council we wanted to give back to our community; little did we know that meant providing two and a half reroofs to local veterans in need. 

It’s the season of giving and that’s exactly what the Central Oregon NWIR council sought to do this year. We knew at the beginning of the year, as we were checking all the boxes to be an official council on the National Women in Roofing (NWIR) map, we wanted to give back to our community. Specifically the veteran community in Central Oregon. 

Once the idea was out there, everyone jumped on board and one idea turned into another, which became a yearlong project of connection and community through roof donations. 

As a new council, we wanted to make a big splash with our debut event while also highlighting the four pillars of NWIR – education, mentoring, industry recruitment and networking. We did that with our Raise the Roof for a Hero BBQ in Bend, Oregon at the SRS Distribution branch. Tamarack Sheds did a live demo of a shed reroof, a dozen manufacturers and distributors set up booths, we grilled burgers and brats donated by Sysco Foods, gave out some raffle prizes and announced the recipient of our first reroof project. 

Prior to the BBQ, we posted a nomination form and received seven nominations for veterans throughout Central Oregon. After careful deliberation we had our recipient, chosen not only for his military service but also his commitment to veterans in Central Oregon. 

As we reached out to contractors, manufacturers and distributors for donations, we couldn’t believe the amount of interest. Everyone said yes and was so eager to help, which allowed us to do not one, not two, but two and a half reroof projects! 

Reroof one – Larry  

Larry served in the U.S. Navy from 1978-1984. A disabled veteran, Larry consistently gives back to the veteran community around him whether that’s through the Oregon Veterans Motorcycle Association (OVMA), the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4108 (VFW), the Oregon Highway 26 P.O.W-M.I.A memorial ride to raise money for the Central Oregon Veterans Village or the “Run for the Wall” memorial ride to the Vietnam War Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.  

The person who nominated him shared, “Larry is the guy who if you need something and he has it, he will give it to you, even if he can’t afford to. That is who he is. There is no better friend to anyone than he is.” 

This reroof took place in the beginning of September and we had an amazing team from Scott’s Roofing providing the labor for Larry’s reroof. From tear off to install, they worked long hours to finish the roof in four days, which also included roofing a covered patio area in addition to the roof.

This reroof wouldn’t have been possible without all of the help, support and donations from over 20 different sponsors for everything from underlayment and starter shingles to flashings and coil nails – and everything in between! 

Our NWIR team spent the days weeding, winterizing and raking needles and leaves to help spruce up the property for Larry. We even had the local news, KTVZ, come out to see the project in person and they interviewed one of our council leaders, Amy Cashman with SRS Building Products. Thanks to donations from ServPro, SRS and RoofersCoffeeShop®, the crews and Larry were provided with ample food, drinks, snacks and swag throughout the weekend! And to help us capture the project's ins and outs, Marc Diaz from Through New Eyes Media, donated his time to take pictures and drone footage! 

See for yourself some highlights from the project!

Reroof two – Philip  

We were fortunate to have enough local donations for another veteran reroof, which took place Halloween weekend. This time around we had applied for and received a grant from The Home Depot Foundation to not only help with the reroof, but to also provide a few other home improvements for Philip and his family.  

Philip is in the Army and is currently active duty, having started his service in 2010. He was deployed to Afghanistan and has received multiple accolades for his service and dedication. The person who nominated Philip shared, “I’ve had the personal pleasure of working for Philip since 2021 and without him I would be half the leader I am today. Philip continues to make great personal sacrifices to accommodate the wellbeing and development of every soldier in Bravo Troop.” 

When our council approached The Home Depot Foundation about Philip’s reroof project, they were all in!

They provided materials we hadn’t secured donations for yet, brought their own crew to help with other projects around the house and even hosted a BBQ lunch for the family, the roofing crew, their team and NWIR. Larry, the recipient of our first roof donation, even came out for the BBQ and to see the crews at work on Philip’s house!  

Home Depot also donated a new Trex deck, patio furniture and a new Traeger and BBQ to Philip and his family. Dusty Damon, specialty assistant store manager at Home Depot in Bend as well as the Team Depot Captain, which is part of the Home Depot Foundation, helped make all of this happen. 

We chatted with him towards the end of the project to learn how he got involved and what it means to give back to our local community.  

Our NWIR crew was back at it helping clean up the property by weeding and raking leaves and facilitating the project overall.

The crew from AM-1 Roofing were quick and thorough and had the old roof torn off and new roof installed in just two days! 

We had a chance to talk with Danny Watson from The Home Depot Foundation, who flew in all the way from their headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia to take part in this project.

Check out the interview here.  

Reroof two and a half – Debbie and David 

We had so many contractors who wanted to help our local veteran community that we were able to provide the labor for a veteran couple. Debbie is a Marine having served from 1990-1994 and David served in the Army from 1997-2017. Both veterans continue to serve the veteran community in Central Oregon with Debbie being a peer support specialist with Deschutes County and David running the Veteran Village for homeless veterans while raising their six children. 

Their roof suffered hail damage from a hailstorm earlier in the year, which led them to file a claim through insurance. Thankfully their insurance company was able to provide the necessary materials and repairs for the roof and a local roofing company, Tactical Roofing, provided the labor for this deserving couple. 

As a founding member of this council as well as a council leader, it was truly an honor to help make these projects come to life. It took a lot of emails and coordination, but we did it! And to be able to give back to those who have given so much to us, our community and our nation is pretty special. I write and edit articles about all things roofing every single day, but to actually be at the jobsite itself from start to finish was an incredible experience. The amount of work that goes into a reroof from tear off to material delivery to the actual reroof is hard to comprehend unless you see it throughout the entirety of the process. I learned so much from all of these projects as well as all of the women in our Central Oregon council who went out and did the roof inspections, secured donations, coordinated the crews and material delivery and so much more.  

All in all, 2025 was an eventful year for NWIR Central Oregon! It was so meaningful to give back to our community in such a profound way. We can’t wait to see 2026 has in store for us!