Giving back one shingle at a time

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn about how the National Women in Roofing Oregon council brought the industry together to support Big Star Ranch – and each other! 

15 miles south of Oregon City, near the Mount Hood National Forest, sits Big Star Ranch in Molalla, Oregon. The ranch, run by Barbara Knudsen, is home to a herd of horses that help clients face fears, build confidence, develop responsibility, learn to trust and overcome grief. Recently, the Oregon Council of National Women in Roofing (NWIR) got the chance to meet this incredible herd (and their human leader Barbara) when they headed out to Molalla to reroof the therapy center!  

This project, which was done in conjunction with Charitable Projects Day of National Roofing Week June 1-7, truly showcased how the roofing community can come together for a great cause. Local companies like Lake Oswego Roofline, AA-Riteway and Solid Roofing NW donated materials (plywood, accessories and Malarkey Vista shingles). Bliss Roofing, Raindrop Roofing and Solid Roofing NW provided the labor needed to complete all the work.  As for the dump of old material, Flow Roofing took care of that! The project even saw meals, snacks and drinks donated by national brands like QXO, ABC Supply and the Cool Roof Rating Council as well as WRB Construction. 

To learn more about this amazing project, we sat down with Torrey Yungeberg, the VP/Ops Manager at Raindrop Roofing NW, and Sara Klindtworth, the owner of Solid Roofing NW, for a quick interview. They both emphasized how important giving back to people like Barbara is for them. As Sara put it, “One of the reasons why I started my company is, when I was at other companies, I wanted to do projects like this, just to help people. And I kept being told no. So, this was a great opportunity to come together with a lot of others to do some good.” 

In addition to being a great opportunity to give back, this was a special moment for women in roofing like Torrey and Sara. Torrey explained, “In past experiences, I haven’t been on the roof because the guys are up there handling the tear off and I'm doing  ground cleanup or whatever support is needed. But what was really cool about this experience is that the guys working on the roof were excited for us to be up there with them and I got to help tear off. It was so fun and just such a good day of learning.” Sara echoed Torrey’s point, “I got to tear off a good chunk of the roof and it was so fun. Normally when I’m working, I’m the only female up there. So it was really good to have people like Torrey up there with me.” 

And the completion of the Big Star Ranch roof is not the end of the story – both Torrey and Sara have big plans to keep giving back. Torrey shared, “I'm really excited because Barbara said she needed help with her barn roof as well, which is a corrugated metal roof. So the team at Raindrop came out, took a look at it and we’re going to be able to help her with that as well!” As for Sara, she and the Solid Roofing team are ramping up to donate roofs to people in need, like single moms or those struggling with health issues, through their Roofing It Forward program.