Local business owner's generosity helps three families - By Elizabeth Richards

Three local families will have a brighter holiday season thanks to the generosity of a local business owner. Jason Rickett, owner of JT Construction, LLC in Gorham, is helping to make Christmas a little bit merrier for these struggling families by donating gifts and oil to help get them through the winter.
 

Rickett said that last year his company decided to help out a grandmother they’d heard of, who had recently adopted her two grandchildren right before Christmas and was unable to do much for the holiday. “It was just a good deed, and a good way to give back to the community,” he said. 

This year, the company decided to help out once again, and do a little more. A message was posted to their Facebook page asking if anyone knew of a local family that could use some assistance to make their holidays a little better. Rickett said they had many responses from that post, and narrowed it down to try and do the most they could for as many people as possible. 

That’s how they ended up with two Windham families in need of gift assistance. One is a single mother with two children, and the other is a two parent family with two children, where one parent is unable to work due to recent health issues. A third family in Gorham was having trouble keeping oil in their tank for the winter. Rickett is working with Pit Stop Fuel to provide oil for all three families. Pit Stop will match any fuel that Rickett purchases gallon for gallon. 

Being able to help other families feels great said Rickett. “My family is very fortunate for what we have, and the greater Portland community has helped me build what I have now,” he said. Helping others during the holidays is a way to give back and say thank you, he added. “It just feels good to be able to give others a Christmas that they wouldn’t have been able to have if we weren’t able to assist them,” he said. 

Rickett is a 2001 graduate of Windham High School. He said he has worked in construction since he was 16 years old, and started his company eight years ago. In those eight years, he said, he’s been able to build a successful company. JT Construction does mostly residential work, and can do anything from roofing, siding, additions, and remodels to building a house from the ground up, said Rickett. “We’re a smaller construction company, and we try and help out our customers as much as possible with keeping our prices down, which has helped us out a lot in staying busy,” he said. Rickett lives in Gorham with his wife and two children.