CHESAPEAKE — It was the spirit of neighborliness that was in full force the past two days as volunteers came together to help out the Chesapeake Community Center.

For some time the center that houses a fitness center and food pantry has been in serious need for major roof repairs, especially the section where the karate classes are held.

But next week part of those roof woes will be solved as volunteers are expected to finish up the first leg of the roof replacement project.

On Wednesday, Michael Wellman of Chesapeake, his wife and sons and other volunteers started the project.

“The kids were up there scrapping off the old roof,” Ruth Damron, center director, said. “They were working so hard.”

Joining the project was Galloway’s Poured Concrete Walls of Chesapeake that provided a lift truck to take up to the roof of the two-story structure 4,000 pounds of rubber roofing.

“There is no way they could have gotten that up there without that help,” Damron said.

For the past year the center has held a variety of fundraisers from a country western music concert to a spaghetti dinner that brought in about $4,800.

The cost of replacing the one section of roof was priced at $6,000, but with volunteer labor all the center had to come up with was the materials.

That price tag came in at just under $2,300. The next roof project on tap will be the section over the staging area where the Community Mission Outreach stores its large freezer used for its weekly food pantry. Cost on that is expected to come in about $1,000.

That means the remaining funds can be used on minor renovations on the interior of the building.

“We still have carpet to buy for the weight room and purchase some odds and ends,” Damron said. “It makes me feel very happy that we could afford to do that. I am extremely proud of Mr. Wellman and his friends. It lifts your spirits.”