Free trip to Disney World!!!

[Mic]

Guess who is getting a free trip to the happiest place on earth? Ty Pennington is in my neighborhood right now, and a teacher with cancer has just been chosen to go for free while they "build a dream" home for her family!! A good friend of ours was chosen as the builder/contractor and he does EXCELLENT work. I am sure this house, in little ol' Lexington, NC, will be one of the finest ever built on the show! Of course, it rained more today than it has in any other one day in the last decade, but that did not deter any volunteers! I don't know why I was not contacted to be the family's personal Disney tour guide...I'm sure it was just an oversight by the Extreme Home Makeover people. Either way, I'm happy for the teacher...she is more than deserving. She was first diagnosed with colon cancer 3 years ago while her oldest daughter was cheering on my elementary cheerleading squad. She and her husband(also a teacher) moved in with her parents so they could help with the three daughters(a 9-year-old and 2-year-old twins) during her treatment. Now, 3 years later, the cancer is back, and has spread to other areas of her body. My 19-year-old daughter had the privilege of being in a leadership class this teacher taught 6 years ago...she is a very good teacher, and a very good person. I wanted to share with all my DIS buds the excitement of witnessing such an incredible act of volunteerism. And while we are all lamenting about layoffs, cut-backs, and our pitiful budgets that we can't stretch to include a trip to Disney, let's be thankful we have our health and our family. I am ashamed to admit I sometimes forget the important things...today just reminded me so I wanted to share.

 

[smidgen21]

what a blessing for that family. EHM is wondeful.

 

[mousecraszy]

What a wonderful message Mic. Thanks for sharing and my thoughts and prayers are with this family.

 

[Leajess99]

That is so awesome for that family. My prayers go out to them as she tries to beat this horrible disease

 

[brooklynbrenden]

That show does great things for people. Glad they are helping someone close to you.

 

[memy26]

Wow that's awesome. I'm in Mocksville, so we are neighbors. It must be awesome to witness such a great thing

 

[DaisiLou]

I was raised in Thomasville, and live near Raleigh! So happy for this family!

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Ahhh that is so nice to hear of wonderful things happening to good people.

 

[lecach]

That's wonderful that EMH is there - it's my hometown! I graduated from Lexington Senior High in 1987.

Heres the article about the Creasey family: http://www.the-dispatch.com/article...asey-family-chosen-for-8216-Extreme-Makeover-

 

[DVCBELLE]

That is awesome.

I wanted to add something about this...

A good friend of ours was chosen as the builder/contractor and he does EXCELLENT work.

The man who lives across the street from my mom and dad built an Extreme Makeover House here. It is not a matter of being chosen. ABC does NOT pay for the house. The Builder has to agree to build the house for free. This means he has to get everything donated.

The man I know was the 23rd builder to be approached in our fairly large city. In these tough economic times - the big builders all turned it down. This was at the height of the homebuilding slump and he was facing laying off many of his employees. But he knew how desperately that family needed the home and ABC told him he was the last chance and if he said no - they were leaving town.

So he and his wife agreed to do it and faced the daunting task of getting everything donated. He said that he would have said yes even if he was the first person they had asked. He had to get the donations personally - ABC did not help. So he went to all the suppliers in town and was overwhelmed by the generosity he found. He said that if someone started by asking what was in it for them - he told them nevermind and walked out the door. He only wanted people who were donating from the heart b/c he knew they would never get the proper recognition for their donations.

The week of building - they still did not have any furniture donated and it was our local ABC news that sent out the call begging for a furniture donation - which came through a day before they needed it!

Once building began - this man and his entire family LIVED in a RV on site. Once filming ended - he continued to spend a couple of weeks on site finishing all the little details he couldn't do during the show and teaching the family how to use the house - it has some very high tech items in it.

I say all of this so that everyone truly appreciates what the builders and community do for this show. I don't think the builders get enough credit for what they do and they sacrifices they make for the show!

Your friend who is building the house it truly an amazing man! It is an honor to build the house and on top of that speaks volumes about his character!

 

[OhMari]

I agree with the above statement. ABC does a lot of ground work before they come to any neighborhood. I think 3 years ago, they came to WI, and got Wausau Homes to be the contractor. There were so many "little guys" contractor's that were upset that they didn't even get a chance at this. This house was basically brought in by a semi-and put together like a puzzle. So neighbors didn't get to do anything, because the company brought their own people. The neighbors basically just got to watch, which was exciting.

 

[Mic]

I just wanted to add that DVCBELLE is correct that our builder friend was not "chosen", but when asked, did agree to do the job for free. While he organized the equipment, materials, and labor(all completely donated), his wife and her family spearheaded the volunteers, who do everything from supply/serve food to handing out bottled water. This truly is a community effort here; our local high school is hosting a relay for life walk starting today to raise money in honor of the mother who has cancer. My daughter will be cheering with the cheerleading squad, my son will be playing with the band...almost every student and faculty member will be participating in the walk for the next 24 hours. At the build site, the traffic is controlled by policemen that live on the road, the electrician lives a few miles away, and all the local firefighters are on-hand for an emergency. Although thousands of people volunteered, no one knew where the house was until Ty knocked on the door of the Creasey family. ABC narrowed the list to 5 families/homes, and even the contractor did not know which house would be chosen until the bus headed to the home yesterday morning. To date, they have enough volunteers, but they are still asking for monetary donations and gift cards to give to the family. The builder is required to stay at the site for 106 hours for the build, and will have to spend many more finishing up afterward. He has spent thousands of hours so far just planning and getting donations...he truly is a hero. And he is so modest and humble...his kids (13,9, 6) do not even know the magnitude of his generosity. The 9-year-old son told me yesterday his "Daddy was building a house for free for someone who needed one". He had no idea it would be broadcast on TV. It's just so nice to see the whole community pull together to help someone, especially right here near the holidays. Thanks for all the shout-outs from my neighbors...One interesting thing I need to post about the builder's family: his wife had planned to run the Disney marathon in January for her 40th birthday, and the whole family was planning to go Jan. 7-11. ABC's estimated airdate for the show is sometime in January or February, so the family is postponing their trip until later in the year. The wife had already paid the fee for the full marathon($250, I think) and had asked me to get current ticket prices for her. I have used my DVC points for them to stay at OKW twice, and had wanted to do the same for the trip in Jan., but they were bringing another family that made them a party of 9, and the Treehouses were not available. When this week is over, I will be pricing other Disney marathons for a trip for them. I think I read somewhere there would be a new Fall marathon in Epcot...she may be interested in that one. If not, there is always Jan. 2011 to look forward to...

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Wow, Extreme Makeove is in our city also right now, here is the house....

 

[Mickeys.friend]

Awesome!!!!

 

[tinkabella627]

Wow, Extreme Makeove is in our city also right now, here is the house....

That's where I am from too! But I don't live there anymore lol

How is Ty in NC and there (idk if you want where you are from posted that is why I am not saying the city) when people said they saw him at Sears today?

 

[Lunchlady]

I just got home from volunteering at the Lexington home. It was still raining and was the biggest mud mess you can imagine. But everyone was great! It was so touching to be part of this. I do not know the family personally but that really doesn't matter. If anyone ever has a chance to volunteer please do yourself a favor and do it. They are a little behind schedule because of the weather but it will come together.

 

[RSADP]

I love to watch EHM! I boo hoo my eyes out everytime. I wish I had endless amounts of $$$ to donate and send people to WDW!

 

[TIGGER'SFRIEND]

That's where I am from too! But I don't live there anymore lol

How is Ty in NC and there (idk if you want where you are from posted that is why I am not saying the city) when people said they saw him at Sears today?

They actually go between both sites (by air of coarse)--our house here in NY was started last Saturday--over 3000 voluteers--they are actually making over other houses on the block-siding,painting,roofs--it is a pretty run down neighborhood--it is pretty awesome to see the process--am hoping to go on Saturday to shout out MOVE THAT BUS!!!!!
There is a facebook page for the Buffalo makeover-Extreme Makeover Home Edition Buffalo New York

 

[DVCBELLE]

I just wanted to add that DVCBELLE is correct that our builder friend was not "chosen", but when asked, did agree to do the job for free. While he organized the equipment, materials, and labor(all completely donated), his wife and her family spearheaded the volunteers, who do everything from supply/serve food to handing out bottled water. This truly is a community effort here; our local high school is hosting a relay for life walk starting today to raise money in honor of the mother who has cancer. My daughter will be cheering with the cheerleading squad, my son will be playing with the band...almost every student and faculty member will be participating in the walk for the next 24 hours. At the build site, the traffic is controlled by policemen that live on the road, the electrician lives a few miles away, and all the local firefighters are on-hand for an emergency. Although thousands of people volunteered, no one knew where the house was until Ty knocked on the door of the Creasey family. ABC narrowed the list to 5 families/homes, and even the contractor did not know which house would be chosen until the bus headed to the home yesterday morning. To date, they have enough volunteers, but they are still asking for monetary donations and gift cards to give to the family. The builder is required to stay at the site for 106 hours for the build, and will have to spend many more finishing up afterward. He has spent thousands of hours so far just planning and getting donations...he truly is a hero. And he is so modest and humble...his kids (13,9, 6) do not even know the magnitude of his generosity. The 9-year-old son told me yesterday his "Daddy was building a house for free for someone who needed one". He had no idea it would be broadcast on TV. It's just so nice to see the whole community pull together to help someone, especially right here near the holidays. Thanks for all the shout-outs from my neighbors...One interesting thing I need to post about the builder's family: his wife had planned to run the Disney marathon in January for her 40th birthday, and the whole family was planning to go Jan. 7-11. ABC's estimated airdate for the show is sometime in January or February, so the family is postponing their trip until later in the year. The wife had already paid the fee for the full marathon($250, I think) and had asked me to get current ticket prices for her. I have used my DVC points for them to stay at OKW twice, and had wanted to do the same for the trip in Jan., but they were bringing another family that made them a party of 9, and the Treehouses were not available. When this week is over, I will be pricing other Disney marathons for a trip for them. I think I read somewhere there would be a new Fall marathon in Epcot...she may be interested in that one. If not, there is always Jan. 2011 to look forward to...

There is a Disney Princess Half Marathon Friday, March 5 - Sunday, March 7, 2010. That might be too close for them. I wonder if you called Disney and explained the situation to them if they would let her enter the marathon she wants to for free. Might be worth a phone call. Usually they don't this but maybe in this situation they would make an exception!

 

[Mic]

We were told Ty had "other projects in the works", and would be present for the knock on the door and the bus moving. I think he was at the Relay for Life event at the high school yesterday, and I heard that Chris Daughtry was supposed to be there, but backed out due to the weather. I don't know if he will try to go to the event today(he's probably wiped out from the concert my SISTER did not invite me to!). I heard the demolition went well at the build site, but I am sure they are behind on the foundation due to all the rain. It's nice to have an update from someone on the "inside"(lunchlady). I can only imagine the atmosphere...I know the contractor is a perfectionist. His company is called Hedrick "Creative" Building...he may have to get more creative than usual on this house because of the weather! His wife said the site is so muddy, but the plans to pour the foundation were still on track yesterday. Spectators are officially allowed starting today...that should add some excitement to the process!