Local businesses donate $100K roof to American Legion

Driving past the American Legion Post 53 building in the early morning, you might notice a crew of neon-clad workers on the roof.

They're from Phoenix-based Starkweather Roofing and are in the final days of installing a new roof to replace the Legion's original one built in 1963. The approximate total cost of the replacement is $100,000, said Jeff Starkweather Jr., an estimator at Starkweather Roofing. However, thanks to community collaboration, the Legion is receiving the roof at no cost.

"We are a volunteer organization. We are basically veterans serving veterans and their families and the community," said Legion Commander Arthur Warner. "What it does for us is it cuts down on our [electric] costs and makes the building more efficient."

The Legion recently underwent renovations to the building's exterior and the kitchen through collaboration with the local nonprofit Rebuilding Together Valley of the Sun. At that time, Warner also inquired about repairing the roof to help mitigate electric costs which were "through the roof" he said. The June bill was $850, money that could otherwise be spent on the Legion's many community outreach programs.

"It's already made quite a difference," Warner said. "The money that we had to pay for electric bills takes away from helping our veterans if they need loans or the different projects that we do."

"A few times a year, we try to give back to our community," Starkweather said. "We are a local business here in town for the last 27 years so, from time to time, when things come up that we can help with we really try to."

Starkweather is on the board for the Young Professionals Committee of the Arizona Roofing Contractors Association. As soon as he presented the project to his fellow board members, he said they were eager to join in helping the legion. Replacing the roof has been a joint effort with donations from multiple businesses. Tear down of the old roof was provided by Phoenix-based Gorman Roofing Services with different manufacturers and suppliers donating material for Starkweather Roofing to install the new roof. The roof is slated to be finished by the end of this week.

"We are just thrilled everything worked out in the way it did and we were able to get the donations that we got," Starkweather said, adding that this type of work is part of the business' core value system. "It's something we like to do and being a local roofing company, it's something that's always top of mind."