Extreme Makeover Home Edition – Philo, IL Sept 2009

I Can’t Believe it has been 16 years since Reveal Day!

Extreme Makeover Home Edition – Philo, IL Sept 2009

One of the most rewarding things I have ever been involved in was helping on the TV show Extreme Makeover Home Edition’s build in Philo, Illinois in the early fall of 2009.  I volunteered several  days and provided several of the patio pots, including the ones that flanked the front door.

In early August of 2009, I happened to catch the news one night.  They were talking about Extreme Makeover Home Edition coming to the area later that month and they were asking for volunteers.  The newscaster gave an email address and instructions on how to sign up to be a volunteer.  I offered my floral skills in addition to my unskilled labor skills.  I received a phone call from the design producer and was given the assignment of finding pots for the large palms for the living room.  I also asked if I could donate some patio pots for the front door and the patio area.  I was given the go ahead !

I had help making the pots for the patio area but I wouldn’t let anyone touch the big planters for the doorway.  I was adamant that I was the only one to design them.  Patio pots/color pots were my very favorite thing to design!

The first pots I found for the palms turned out not to be big enough so I was sent to a local big box store to procure bigger pots!  The palm trees ended up being 9 feet tall!  I wasn’t expecting them to be quite that big!

As a volunteer , we were given a distinctive blue t shirt to wear.  It was very rewarding to have people come up and thank us for our part in the endeavor while we were out in public.

I brought a couple of my friends along with me on the last day of the build.  This was “Reveal” day, the day the family was coming home and seeing their house for the very first time!

 

My two female friends helped with placing the patio pots and touching up the landscaping.  My male helper got drafted into helping bring in the furniture and helped carry the big pots of palms into the living room.

 

In the days leading up to “Reveal ” day, I served as unskilled labor.  My tasks included peeling labels off of water bottles and picking inch sized rocks out of a gravel pile.  We had to take the labels off due to branding and advertising issues.  I also served as an extra in some of the shots.  While the rock sorting project wasn’t super fun since it was hot and sunny that day, I would definitely participate in something like this again!

The family that was ultimately chosen for the Extreme Makeover Home Edition home lived in Philo, Il. The husband, Nathan Montgomery was the Executive Director of Salt & Light, a charitable ministry in Champaign-Urbana, Il that served needy people living in the area.  The charity itself received a makeover also.  One of the functions of the ministry was a food pantry.  4 celebrity chefs were also invited to participate in the program.  The chefs were Rocco DiSpirito, Sandra Lee, Spike Mendalsohn and Art Smith.  It was exciting to see them in person!

When it was first announced that the Extreme Makeover Home Edition tv show was coming to the area, there was a lot of secrecy involved.  When I first volunteered, I only knew that it would be happening somewhere in Central Illinois.  The family finds out basically the day the project starts. Then they are sent out of town for a mini vacation while their existing home is torn down and a brand new one is built in its place.

The above picture shows the family getting ready to go inside their new home for the first time.  The whole experience was very rewarding.  Participating in the opportunity gave me an opportunity to give back to the community.  When I celebrated a milestone birthday the next July, I asked for donations for Salt & Light in lieu of gifts.  I also donated some additional money from the memorial contributions when my Mother passed away a few years later.