“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?”- Martin Luther King Jr. Community service is a responsibility of every individual. Paying it forward should not be a cliché it should be a guideline to live your life by. Farrell Roofing believes this to their core. We believe that it is our responsibility to make a difference in the community where we live and do business.
Throughout the year Farrell Roofing does what we can to help Chautauqua County Rural Ministry. Chautauqua County Rural Ministry is a Human Service Agency in Chautauqua County New York. The Agency has been in existence for over 50 years and has been serving Chautauqua County and surrounding areas for all of this time and will continue into the future. Chautauqua County Rural Ministry is based on the belief that all persona are deserving of adequate food, clothing, shelter, and work opportunity to acquire basic necessities. CCRM encourages self-determination and self-development to assist with the achievement of adequate economic levels of living and full political citizenship as persons of dignity and as contributing members of society. The purpose of the organization is to advocate for our disenfranchised sisters and brothers so that they may increasingly gain control of their lives. The need to help is always great however 2019 was an especially trying year.
Bridget Majka- Director of Programs at CCRM said, “At the beginning of the year 2019, the Federal SNAP Program was suspended. People eventually received their benefits bit some were without benefits for approximately 6 weeks. When people did receive, the cycle was off date so that they received benefits they were supposed to last for 6 weeks. For many people, even though they were cautioned, felt like they were getting “extra” but the reality was very far from the truth. With so many families not receiving the benefits, the Food Pantries were over run. It was very difficult to keep food on the shelves. Families that had never utilized the food pantry previously walked through the doors looking for assistance. Every family was assisted. CCRM reached out to our community, seeking help. We needed food to help these people… Farrell Roofing answered our plea for help. They orchestrated a food drive within their organization to collect canned goods and non-perishable goods for the pantry. The food collected was 1210 pounds of food! This equates $2,625.75. In addition to this, they sent a check worth $2000.00 to purchase food for the pantry. The impact of this generosity is far reaching. The monetary amount here enables CCRM to assist 300 families in the Northern Chautauqua Region with approximately 4200 meals. This is amazing.”
As the holiday season approached Farrell once again sponsored families to make their holiday brighter. The first family sponsored has 8 children who were given an amazing holiday. The second family had 3 children. We were so honored to be able to deliver the gifts and food to these families and make their holiday special and relieve the parents of that burden. Majka states “They overwhelmed the families with toys, gifts, clothing, coats, and food….all in efforts to assist families in having a happy holiday season. This year Farrell has adopted 3 families who will receive full Christmas’s. We also orchestrated a food drive for the annual Thanksgiving baskets at Rural Ministry.
Throughout the year members of our staff also donated their time in Friendly Kitchen (soup kitchen), serving meals there, working fundraisers for CCRM to help the less fortunate in our city..
Farrell Roofing unfortunately did not win the National Award for community involvement from the NRCA, however we are in the running for the People’s Choice Award. This award is voted on by members of the community at large. CCRM would receive a cash award for their programs if chosen as the people’s choice. If you could please take a minute and login to the link below and vote it would be greatly appreciated! You may vote from multiple devices.