‘No words’: Regina family gifted new roof amid cancer battle

Students from Regina Trades and Skills Centre stepped in to help a family in need, repairing their roof at no cost.  Wanye Mantyka has the story.

Regina’s Jason Gunderson and his family have been navigating a serious health diagnosis since August — all while facing a major home repair.

“In late August, I was diagnosed with stage four esophageal cancer, and just before that, our roof was needing repair and we had gone through the quoting process to get it done and of course everything got out on the back burner,” he said.

As the stress mounted, the family knew the repairs couldn’t wait.

“We can only have so much stress in our life and so we were like, ‘We need to get this roof looked after,’” said Sharon Gunderson.

They reached out to several roofing companies for quotes — but one visit brought an unexpected opportunity.

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“They said, ‘We do a project every year with Regina Trades and Skills and we pick a family every year that is going through a difficult time’ and he’s like, ‘I think you guys are our family this year,’” she said.

Wheatland Roofing, along with suppliers Owens Corning and Shoemaker, donated the materials, while students from Regina Trades and Skills completed the work.

“They’ve been in class now for about a month. As they finish their class, they get to come out into the community here and put the skills to use,” said Regina Trades and Skills Instructor Kris Wall.

For the Gunderson family, the gesture meant everything.

“We just stood and looked at each other and I looked at Jay and [he] started crying because there’s just like really no words when someone wants to bless your family in such a huge huge way,” Sharon said.

With the new roof in place, the family can now focus on what matters most.