SMYRNA, Tenn. (WTVF) — Scamming someone out of their hard-earned money is despicable, no matter who they are. But three months ago, I reported on a 99 year old World War II veteran, who says a contractor ripped him off.
All Almus Raymer wanted was a screened-in porch. Instead he got a nightmare situation. "This has not been nothing but ugly since day one," said Sandra Beard. Almus's daughter.
A new contractor, Mark Crawford, was brought in to see if any of the initial work was salvageable. It wasn't. So Mark, a Navy veteran himself, decided he would build him a new porch, for free.
That was around the time I wrote our first story on Almus's plight.
Moments after the story aired and was posted online, the calls flooded in.
"Thanks to you guys, it blew up," explained Crawford. "We started getting more and more donations. We started getting more and more people offering help."
The local Lowe's Home Improvement donated the roof's framework. Loredo Construction, located more than an hour away from Smyrna, donated the joists and supports. Bluebird Roofing stepped in for all of their roofing needs. Red Dog Dumpster provided their services for free. One of Mark's former clients stepped in and bought their patio furniture.
"With everything that we had coming in, it was just overwhelming," said Crawford.
Watch Mr. Almus's emotional reaction to the screened-in porch in the video player above.
With so many gifts in kind, in addition to creating this special space, Mark was able to give an additional surprise.
"When it was all said and done, we were able to present Almus with $14,000," said Crawford.
Many of those donations came from you, our NewsChannel 5 viewers, who donated to his GoFundMe campaign.
That check doesn't represent everything Almus and his daughter lost to the first contractor. But if you ask Mr. Almus, what he didn't receive in money, he got back in having a beautiful space to share his stories with people, more than eager, to listen.
"He’s the best friend I got," said Almus Raymer.
"I’m glad that I made this friend," said Mark Crawford.
Mr. Almus says his screened in porch has quickly become his favorite room in the house.
"I’ll be out here just about all my time," he said. "I thank people for helping me."
"Once it was all finished, and they got to see it and got to come out here, just seeing the smile on his face — that was all worth it," said Crawford.
Crawford and Raymer have already gotten together for dinner once recently, and plan many more in their future. The only point of contention between the two military veterans? Raymer served in the Army. Crawford served in the Navy.
Did you contribute to the GoFundMe? We'd love to hear what you think about the finished product. You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
