When Margaret McMillan called Alford Home Solutions about her flooded basement, she had no idea the gift she would receive.

Margaret McMillan, 82, was the first ever recipient of Alford Home Solutions’ community program Project Give Back 2014. Partnered with Appalachian Roofing Company, 84 Lumber Company, American Roofing Company and Teays Valley Heating and Cooling, the program donated materials and labor to fix McMillan’s aging home.

These companies were able to provide McMillan with free basement water-proofing, a new roof, new siding, a metal awning, a privacy fence, landscaping, and heating and cooling services.

McMillan has a bachelor’s degree in art and psychology and a master’s degree in communication arts from Marshall University. She has lived in numerous states and countries working in the fields of journalism and art. McMillan has been a painter for many years.

“I come from a very country background, and I felt like I needed to learn to get along in this world,” McMillan said. “I have never gotten anything in this world without working for it. My mother always told me if you want something, you must go out and earn it.”

Her decision to call Alford Home Solutions rose out of her desire to fix her damaged home. Her basement was flooded with over 4 ft. of water, and McMillan said it was worse than the “before” photo in their newspaper advertisement. When the company salesmen arrived to do the estimate, she began to share her story with them.

“I hired a neighbor’s handyman to do some work for me,” McMillan said. “He worked for about a day and a half, and all I wanted him to do was clean up the backyard. He got my car started for me, took it for a test drive, and never came back. He not only stole the car, but he stole my cell phone and my television- all while I was in the house. I could not believe someone would just steal from me like that.”

McMillian said she has chosen to mentally leave that occurrence in the past, but it was not the last hardship she had to deal with concerning the home.

“I have to laugh about it these days to keep from crying about it,” McMillian said. “I went out of town to be with my daughter in Florida, and allowed my house to be rented out while I was gone. When I returned, I could not get them to leave, and found that they had destroyed certain parts of my home. I eventually had to call the police to get them out of here.”

Tony Alford, owner of Alford Home Solutions, said after the executives heard this story, the company decided not only to give her a free estimate, but also would not charge her for anything in the process.

Alford Home Solutions placed a call to Appalachian Roofing Company and told them about the basement waterproofing they were going to install, but needed another company to help with the roofing problems, according to a press release. Appalachian Roofing Company was immediately on board, and obtained donations from 84 Lumber Company and American Roofing Company.

“When we saw all the water in the basement, and saw that she had been without hot water, we decided it’s time we do something,” Alford said. “We paired up with the roofing guys, and they said they would put up a new roof on her house and back porch. We wish we could help more, because it’s obvious she needs much more than we can provide for her.”

Alford Home Solutions asked their construction employees if they would be willing to do this work for her without pay, and several agreed to volunteer on Nov. 22 and subsequent dates.

Alford Home Solutions was built on honesty, family, values, faith and hard work in order to perform outstanding customer service inside and out, and decided to prove that with this year’s Project Give Back 2014, according to a press release.

McMillian said she was also pleased to find out that because of her, Alford Home Solutions will be doing this community give back project every year.

“I just cannot be grateful enough,” McMillan said. “It just boggles my mind that someone would do this for me. I am pleased and impressed at how hard they are working. When I was a kid, we never celebrated Christmas, so this is the best Christmas I have ever had.”

Kelly Pate can be contacted at pate20@ marshall.edu.