Extreme Volunteering

This last weekend Hunter and I had the opportunity to volunteer some of our time to help Extreme Makeover: Home Edition build a house in Daybreak. Wait...Daybreak? Yes, you read that right. They are building from the ground up, not renovating an old home. We signed a lot of forms saying we wouldn't spill the beans on this house so I can't give any specifics, but I will say that it was a really cool experience. We were decked out in hard hats and Extreme Makeover shirts and joined with probably 30 other volunteers (on our shift alone) to make a difference in someone's life.

When all was said and done we had earned our shirts and the food they fed us. We had dirt and re-bar stains on our hands, arms, shirts, and pants and this families house was that much closer to being completed. We volunteered on day 2 and I am sure that those who volunteered on day 6 had a very different experience and maybe walked away with paint all over them instead.

It was really interesting to see how they coordinate everyone. Obviously, a LOT of help is needed to build a house in a week. They have big tents set up and enough volunteers that some are designated to only take care of other volunteers by doing things like setting up food, switching out hot water bottles for cold ones, and making sure there are enough snacks to go around. Also, for future reference, they desperately needed male volunteers. Any male that checked in at the volunteer station was quickly whisked away and put right to work. Female volunteers were almost superfluous.

It was a great experience, and I am so glad we were able to participate!

Here is a link to a news article about it:

'Extreme Makeover' building new home for Taylorsville family in Daybreak