Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - Two weeks ago, WBEN shared a call for help to fundraise money for an 81-year-old veteran and his housebound wife after their Town of Orchard Park home suffered devastating damage that compounded over the last couple years. It started with a tree falling on their family room and crushing the family room roof in January of 2024, followed by heavy snow causing the roof to collapse a year later.
Two weeks later on this Veterans Day, work to renovate the home continues and is nearing completion.
"We have the family room insulated, and the siding for the family room should be done by the end of [Tuesday]. All the soffits are redone, the fascia trimmed. And at this point, we have drywall going up at the end of the week, and then hopefully mid-next week we can paint it," said John Gullo, family friend of the couple and code enforcement officer in the Village of Orchard Park. "We're coming close to the goal by the first week of December, having everything move in ready back for them."
Support for the Navy veteran and his wife have come from across Western New York, thanks to the generous help of volunteers, as well as those who have donated on a GoFundMe page set up to help support the elderly couple.
"We had C.C. Construction [ and Remodeling LLC] just plugging away, doing the exterior work with the siding, and the roofing was done. At this point, we had got on the air with 'Hammertime Partners Give Back', and all [of Domenic Cortese's] partners have been chipping in and doing a little something as well, along with Home Depot with their donations," Gullo said. "Everybody across the board has helped us immensely after getting the word out. So it feels good that people still care about our veterans."
In conversations he's had with the couple, Gullo says they are extremely grateful with the support they have received.
"They are floored. They just can't imagine," he said. "They just are looking at this, going, 'Why are people helping us?' I tell them, 'Because we care about you, and somebody's got to do this for you.' So that's why we're here."
A couple weeks back, Gullo was "hoping to get the house buttoned up for Veterans Day, and he's very pleased with the progress to this point.
"It feels so good inside that we have helped him and his wife to knock it out of the park," Gullo said. "He could not get this done if it was by himself. You're up in age, you're not able to make those connections or do the work, I know because I see people slow down in my line of work. So it feels great."
At this point, all of the trades needed for the house have been dialed in. However, Gullo is still asking for support from the community to help get this effort across the finish line.
"If anybody could help with a monetary donation on the GoFundMe, that would help out so that we can finish the job the right way. There's only a little bit more left that we have to do," Gullo noted.
He also continues to encourage others in Western New York to look out for neighbors and others that may be facing tough times.
"If you have a neighbor or a veteran that you know of that needs help, reach out and help them. They are not going to ask, and that's the key thing," Gullo said.
