Extreme Makeover Home Edition – Philo, IL Sept 2009

I Can’t Believe it has been 17 years since Reveal Day!

Extreme Makeover Home Edition – Philo, IL Sept 2009

Every year as August 25 approaches, I find myself returning to one of the most meaningful experiences of my life: volunteering on the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition build in Philo, Illinois. Seventeen years later, the memories are still vivid — the early‑morning energy, the rush of the reveal day, and the quiet moments where you realize you’re part of something much bigger than yourself.

This story has become a little tradition for me, a way to honor the Montgomery family’s reveal day and to remember the joy of helping create something hopeful and lasting. And this year, I’m sharing a few photos I recently rediscovered — small snapshots that bring the day right back to life.

How I Came to Be a Part of The Build

On evening in early August of 2009, I happened to watch the news.  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 quickly wrote an email, offering  my floral skills in addition to my unskilled labor skills.  I received a phone call a few days later 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!

My male helper got drafted into helping bring in the furniture and helped carry the big pots of palms into the living room.

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!  Below is a photo of me with Will and Debbie on “Reveal” day. Will always wore those sunglasses — I still can’t see the sunglasses emoji without thinking of him. Both he and Debbie have since passed away, and this photo has become a little treasure from a day we shared together.

Debbie & Glo Ann helped with placing the patio pots and touching up the landscaping. 

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.  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.

Looking back seventeen years later, a few lessons still stand out to me from that whirlwind week.

What I Learned from Volunteering

Volunteering on the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition build taught me things I didn’t expect — lessons that have stayed with me long after the cameras were gone and the landscaping tools were packed away.

• The scale of teamwork is breathtaking. You think you understand “a lot of volunteers” until you’re standing in the middle of hundreds of people all moving with purpose, kindness, and urgency. It’s a kind of organized chaos that somehow works because everyone believes in the same goal.
• Small contributions matter more than you think. Whether it was planting a single pot, sweeping a walkway, or helping prep at the shop, every tiny piece added up to something life‑changing for one family. It reminded me that impact doesn’t always come from big gestures — sometimes it’s the quiet ones.
• Community is built in moments, not milestones. The laughter, the shared water bottles, the quick problem‑solving, the “here, let me help you with that” exchanges — those were the real heartbeats of the day. You feel connected to people you’ve never met simply because you’re working toward something good.
• The emotional weight of reveal day is real. Even as a volunteer standing off to the side, you feel the joy, the relief, and the hope radiating from the family. It’s impossible not to carry that with you.
•  I’d do it again in a heartbeat. It was exhausting, exhilarating, messy, meaningful, and unforgettable — the kind of experience that stays with you and quietly shapes how you show up in your own community afterward.

The picture below 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.

f you ever volunteered on an EMHE build — or remember watching this episode — I’d love to hear your memories too.

 

 

 

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