Veteran Helping Others is a 2020 Beacon of Hope Winner

By Karen L. Edwards, RCS Editor. 

The new roof will allow him to stay in his home and continue serving others in the community.  

Veteran’s Promise is a non-profit organization founded by U.S. Army Veteran Dave Ragan that offers support and outreach to veterans suffering from PTSD and substance abuse. Dave understands the struggle as he also suffers from PTSD and depression.  

His girlfriend learned about the Beacon of Hope contest and entered Dave’s information. Dave shared with Channel 16 WNEF that when she told him that she entered him, he just brushed it off, thinking there was no way he would win. “As it was shared on Facebook, I mean just hundreds of people were voting and voting and voting, and I'm like, 'This is overwhelming.' I didn't expect that at all. And then I got the call that we won, and I just can't believe it. I mean, I've never won anything. This is like the lottery," he said. 

Dave survives on disability and his pension while volunteering full time for Veteran’s Promise. He shared with WNEF, “I'm on a fixed income. I'm not broke, but I don't have, you know, $15,000 in my pocket to pay for a new roof. I mean, that is absolutely just unbelievable." 

Beacon started the program in 2019 saying, “Beacon of Hope was created to give back to our Veterans who are in need of a basic necessity: a safe place to live. We hope to inspire our employees, customers and communities to come together to help us in our efforts to provide our Vets with a Beacon of Hope."  

Veterans are nominated each year and 10 finalists are selected. Then voting is opened to determine which three veterans will receive new roofs. The remaining seven receive $2,500 each toward their new roofs.  

Dave’s new roof was installed by Eastern Roofing, on behalf of Beacon. Being selected the winner feels like justification to Dave that what he is doing at Veteran’s Promise is really making a difference for veterans and their families. “I wake up every day. I'm not a perfect human being, by any means, but I literally try to live my life to just do good for others and be in service of them like I did when I wore the uniform." 

To see the other winners and hear their stories, visit the Beacon of Hope webpage.  

Learn more  about Beacon in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit their website at  www.becn.com 

About Beacon 

Founded in 1928, Beacon is a Fortune 500, publicly-traded distributor of residential and commercial building products in North America, operating over 500 branches throughout all 50 states in the U.S. and 6 provinces in Canada. Beacon serves an extensive base of over 110,000 customers, utilizing its vast branch network and diverse service offerings to provide high-quality products and support throughout the entire business lifecycle. Beacon offers its own private label brand, TRI-BUILT, and has a proprietary digital account management suite, Beacon Pro+, which allows customers to manage their businesses online. Beacon’s stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol BECN. To learn more about Beacon, please visit www.becn.com.