A few weeks ago, a man named David Perez looked out his window and saw something heartbreaking. His 75-year-old neighbor was desperately trying to fix his crumbling roof, all by himself…

Perez knew something needed to be done. He uploaded a public plea for help on Facebook, with photos of his neighbor Richard attempting to mend his rooftop in Fremont, California, all by himself.

‘I feel sorry for him but I have no roofing skills,’ he wrote. ‘I would like to see if anyone can donate their time to help him finish. It appears that he has all the materials so looking for free labor.’ But what happened next is nothing short of a miracle…

People from all over the community began to show up. 40 people showed up to work on the elderly man’s roof – while others donated water, donuts and pizza to volunteers.

There was a lot of work to be done. ‘It restores your faith in humanity,’ Richard told local news station KTVU. ‘I’m just astounded. I couldn’t believe it when this fella knocked on my door and said he wanted to help for free. What a gesture.’

What Richard thought would take him weeks, But thanks to the number of people that turned up, the roof was completed in just four hours.

Richard thanked everyone for their amazing compassion, “You see so much negativity and out here, this was positive – real positive – with no thought of return or reward, other than that of helping somebody.”