When it comes to company holiday parties, a solid rule of thumb is to plan on spending an average of $75 per person. But what if companies decided to nix the holiday party and instead opted to put the money towards a charitable cause? That’s exactly what Gulf Western Roofing decided to do last December.
Edgewood Children’s Ranch, originally founded in 1966, is a residential program for youth-at-risk. Their mission has been to house, educate, love, counsel and care for an average of 63 children, ages 8-17, by working closely with their parents in an effort to reunite the family in a healthy, loving, productive unit that functions well in the context of the family and community.
The funding for these programs is made possible by having staff that live on property. Edgewood has cottages for these employees and their families to live in. One of the larger cottages was not being utilized, due to roof issues. Contributions from Roofing Supply Group in Orlando made it possible for Gulf Western Roofing to provide a roof for the building, at no cost to Edgewood.
Gulf Western Roofing made the call, had someone come out right away to see what needed to be done, scheduled a time when it could be done and then came out to see that it had been taken care of. Upon inspection, Gulf Western Roofing found that the shingles were deteriorating and that roof was leaking in several areas. We removed the existing shingle roof as well as the felt underlayment, taking the project down to bare deck. We then re-nailed the deck per the Florida building code and installed a double layer of felt over the entire project. The project was finished with the installation of Owen’s Corning shingles.
Gulf Western Roofing cares strongly about supporting the children in our local community, which is why the decision to support The Ranch was an easy one for Joseph K. Lamb Jr., President of Gulf Western Roofing. In a letter to Mr. Lamb, Stuart Eldridge, Executive Director of The Ranch stated, “You managed to make this happen in a very short time. We are now able to use this home for housing our newest staff member and her family. This is a blessing beyond belief!”
After the project’s completion, Gulf Western Roofing paid a visit to The Ranch where we were given a tour by two young gentlemen. The boys, who had been residents of The Ranch for a little over a year, treated us with the utmost respect as we were given some insight into their daily lives. We were amazed by the quality of life that Edgewood Ranch is providing for these children and found ourselves appreciating the opportunity to lend a helping hand to such a giving organization. As stated by Orlando Division manager, Keith Reece, “It’s always an honor to help anyone in need. Our team looks forward to future opportunities to help Edgewood.”
