California Strangers Repair Elderly Man's Roof After Neighbor’s Heartwarming Facebook Plea
Men and women from across the state selflessly volunteered their time.
— -- An elderly man's once-rickety roof is now ship-shape -- all thanks to his neighbor's Facebook post, which successfully convinced strangers to selflessly lend a hand with the repairs.
"I didn't know what to expect," David Perez, of Fremont, California, told ABC News. "Just knowing how many times people shared it, it was very surprising how far it reached. The ones who took their time to come out and help a stranger was very nice.
"It was very uplifting to see that."
Perez said it was earlier last week when he began witnessing his neighbor, Richard Dubiel, 75, attempting to patch up his roof all by himself.
"It had been an ongoing thing seeing him up there after work or on the weekends," Perez said. "Sometimes he'd have a friend with him. Seeing his age, I just felt that he shouldn't be doing this by himself -- for safety reasons and I just felt sorry for him.
"That's when I decided to reach out on social media to see what kind of response I'd get."
On August 24, Perez wrote a Facebook post, pleading for strangers to help mend Dubiel's roof.
"I feel sorry for him but I have no roofing skills," he wrote. "I would like to see if anyone can donate their time to help him finish. It appears that he has all the materials so looking for free labor to show up this Saturday, August 29th at 9:00am..."
After 1,400 shares, around 40 people offered their handy services, Perez said. "hereas others donated water, donuts and pizza.
"I thought it was going to be a full-days work, but with the amount of people and experiences, I'd say it took just four hours," he added. "I think he [Dubiel] was still kind of in awe or in shock since he's used to doing things by himself. He was definitely grateful and thanked everyone for all their hard work."
Dubiel was shocked by the outpouring of kindness from complete strangers. "I was astonished," Dubiel said. "I was so surprised and delighted because I was not expecting such a response.
"You see so much negativity and out here, this was positive--real positive with no thought of return or reward, other than that of helping somebody."