Ty Sullivan (left) and several volunteers covered roofs around Hattiesburg, Miss., after a tornado.

“Our business was closed for four days. Everything around us got destroyed. We took minimal damage losing a van, power and phones for days—we did not have power or phone lines … We got phones back yesterday,” says Ty Sullivan, vice president of SPF.

“With a tornado damage is very rough and very spotty. Where my home is located I got nothing, but all around our shop and different parts of town there is complete devastation,” says Sullivan. “The following day there was no way we could be open so I went to Lowe’s and bought four boxes of clear plastic, nails and wood. I began calling and checking on friends who I knew lived in hit areas and found out that a close friend who works for the business next door lost his roof. My guys and the workers of the business next door all headed over and began covering his house in the rain.”

Sullivan says that one act of kindness then spread to surrounding homes.

“In the days following I teamed up with a local city councilman and became a team leader. The councilman would ride around and find out who needed help with roofing coverage and tree removal [then] call [us] and my team of volunteers and I would go jump on it. In about four days we covered around six roofs and cut around 20 trees out of people’s homes.”