Roofing Contractor, the trade magazine for the roofing industry, reported on April 2, 2026 that Skyline Exterior Group had completed a free roof installation for a U.S. Army veteran injured during a deployment to Afghanistan. The article ran with a photo of Grady Bendel and Skyline’s Brian Rice outside Bendel’s North Carolina home.
What the magazine reported
Skyline donated the labor. GAF, the shingle manufacturer, supplied the materials for Bendel’s home. Bendel lost his leg after an improvised explosive device strike, and Skyline found him through Veterans Bridge Home, a nonprofit that connects veterans with community resources and support.
The magazine placed the project inside two programs. On Skyline’s side, the company’s pledge to provide a full roof replacement to a veteran or first responder for every 100 roofs it sells, the program Skyline calls the 100 Roof Promise. On GAF’s side, Community Matters, the manufacturer’s social impact initiative launched in 2020, which donates roofing materials for repairs, disaster recovery, and safe shelter through nonprofit partners.
Why it matters
Roofing Contractor is read by contractors and manufacturers, not homeowners, which makes it the industry’s own record that the donation happened and that GAF backed it. For a company that had celebrated its grand opening in Pittsboro a month earlier, it was the first national coverage. The roof itself was a standard Skyline job: a full tear-off with GAF shingles, done the way every paying customer’s is.