Cox Roofing giveaway rewards two veteran police officers

By Emma Peterson. 

When it comes to giving back to their community, Cox Roofing makes sure to put their money where their mouth is. 

Cox Roofing in Laurel, Mississippi takes supporting their community seriously. Every year, they choose a profession that helps build up and protect their community to receive a free, new roof in their giveaway. Over the years they have supported a local veteran, nurse and now two police officers.  

This year, they began collecting donations and planning with the intention of gifting one roof as usual. But the rest of the community jumped in to help the company give back and they ended up having enough donations to offer two recipients the gift of safe and secure roofs! Their giveaway is truly a community affair. In order to pull off the gift, Cox Roofing worked with Beacon Building Products and the Atlas Roofing Corporation. The latter two companies provided materials and Cox Roofing provided the labor.  

The recipients this year were Lt. Mark Evans and Sgt. Roman Moss. Both Mark and Roman have served their community for decades. Mark has served for 28 years in law enforcement and 25 of those years have been at the Laurel Police Department. Roman is also a veteran officer, having served the Laurel Police Department for 15 years. The two shared that they never saw the gift coming.  

Roman explained in an interview with WDAM that he had never won anything before and that, “When Mrs. Tracy called me, I jumped, my wife was like ‘What’s going on?’ and once I told her, she was surprised herself.” Both of the Moss’ were incredibly grateful and relieved by the gift. They had just patched the roof of their house as best as they could, but it still needed work, which Cox Roofing provided.  

Mark had no words to describe how honored and grateful he was for the new roof. He explained, “Due to a small tragedy that had occurred, we were already looking at a new roof.” Mark’s stepson had been in a car wreck prior, and he had to be extracted by emergency personnel using hydraulic rescue tools, also called the jaws of life. After the accident, he had to stay in the hospital for three months and could not work. Mark and his wife had pushed all their money, including what they had set aside for a new roof, towards his medical bills and care. Mark said that the gift from Cox Roofing still makes him feel blessed, even in the aftermath of his family’s small tragedy.  

Both Roman and Mark might have had no idea that the gifts were incoming, but their Police Chief, Tommy Cox, said that the company reached out to him last year in preparation of the giveaway. They were looking for internal nominations from him. Tommy was struck by the company’s dedication to supporting the local community, saying, “In the dictionary, where they say putting your money where your mouth is, Cox Roofing actually does it.” Cox Roofing is excited to continue their yearly tradition and plans to continue paying it forward by gifting a roof to an educator next year. 

Photo source: Laurel Leader-Call