Organization Gives Long Island Veteran A New Roof, For Free

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- There are many ways to show gratitude to those who have served our country. One organization is doing it by literally putting roofs over our veterans' heads.

Mother Nature was not helping to make the mission easy, covering Long Island with snow, but it did not stop workers from helping out a veteran and his family.

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Two dozen were banging away with their hammers on Monday to install a brand new roof on John Carter's Farmingdale home, CBSN New York's John Dias reported.

"I try to do good for everybody around me. It's nice to see it kind of come back, help us out," Carter said.

The 38-year-old father of two is a combat veteran who served in the Marines for eight years. He was involved with three different operations in Iraq and Africa. He now works at a Veterans Affairs center.

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When he bought his home a few years back, there were no issues with the roof. But out of nowhere it began to leak like crazy and Carter couldn't afford to fix it.

"Little dots here and there and I didn't think anything of it," Carter said of the leaks. "And then it kept pouring down more and more."

That's when Alure Home Improvements and Owens Corning Platinum Contractors came to help, donating supplies and manpower to build Carter a new $15,000 roof in one day, all for free.

It's all part of the Owens Corning National Roof Deployment Project, which has built roofs for more than 100 military members since 2016.

"John Carter served the country. He did something we should all be proud of. He had a problem and I am glad we were able to do something about it," said Sal Ferro, owner of Alure Home Improvements.

"It's nice to turn around when you have a veteran that needs some help, for us to help them," added Joe Russo, area sales manager for Owens Corning Platinum Contractors.

Construction on Carter's roof was expected to be done by the end of the day, so if Mother Nature wants to dump some more snow on us this winter, Carter's family will be ready for it.

"This has literally been hanging over our heads for months now, so having this done has been a blessing," Carter said.