Roofing charity completes first project for local resident

Alex Simone, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.
·2 min read

Nov. 18—One local charity is providing roofs to residents in need through motorcycle rides and other fundraisers.

The Rides 4 Roofs program was established in 2021, and Thursday the organization repaired its first roof for a resident in need.

Adam Bolonyi is the local resident receiving a new roof and is thankful for the help, he said.

"Oh, most definitely. And I did not know how bad it was in some areas until they took off the old shingles and the underlayment for me to see the original plywood from the outside," Bolonyi said.

It's the culmination of long-term efforts, and there is hope the group will expand, Rides 4 Roofs founder Shanin McCoy said.

"We definitely want to get this done before winter," he said. "Honestly, we're just excited that we were able to pull in enough funds between the first year and the second year to be able to actually help somebody this year."

The organization held its first motorcycle ride in August 2021 but changed the 2022 date to June in hopes of attracting more participants. Still, promoting the event so more people show up has proven to be one of the major challenges, McCoy said.

"There has been, you know, a lot of support from the community in this," he said. "Everybody says it's great what we're doing. That's great, but we really need people to show up. You know, we need people to show up for the auction and we need people to show up for the ride."

Having an option like Rides 4 Roofs is important because many residents don't have the means to make repairs when needed. Sometimes that's the physical ability, but often it can come down to not having enough money, Bolonyi said.

"The roofs on so many of them are so bad because they're elderly, they're disabled, they don't have family to help," he said. "They don't have the financial means, they don't have the credit. So, they have so many setbacks, that there are so many houses around here that are tagged because they can't they're in disrepair."

Before the repair process can start, the charity has to be sure residents have no other options at their disposal, so AFL-CIO helps make sure the proper requirements are met, McCoy said.

People wanting to become beneficiaries should contact AFL-CIO, McCoy said, and they can follow Rides 4 Roofs on Facebook for more info.

Alex Simone can be reached at alex.simone@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter at @NPNOWSimone.