Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Surprises Long Island Family in a Unique Fashion, Via the Jumbotron at Yankee Stadium With Ty Pennington and Alure President Sal Ferro
Posted on Wed, Jun 23, 2010 @ 11:03 AM
EAST MEADOW, N.Y., June 20 /PRNewswire/ -- ABC's Emmy-winning hit show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has selected the Lutz family of East Setauket, NY, in the Town of Brookhaven as the recipient of a Long Island Extreme Makeover set to begin this Tuesday. The show helps change the lives of families and inspire remarkable community support, traveling around the country each week, by finding a local builder to help bring a community together to build a new home for a deserving family in less than a week.
Unlike the show's traditional early morning door knock, Ty Pennington made the announcement to the family at Yankee Stadium on the Jumbotron prior to the NY Yankees vs. the NY Mets game this afternoon. Sal Ferro, President/CEO Alure Home of Alure Home Improvements, stormed the field from the dugout followed by hundreds of blue shirt volunteer workers to join Pennington along with the rest of the show's design team and several New York Yankees baseball players.
Unable to have any children of their own, loving couple Grace and John Lutz gave their hearts to 18 adopted kids in all, including seven with Down Syndrome. After the couple passed away, their daughter Kathleen, gladly gave up her career and came home to take care of her six Down siblings who currently range in age from 20 to 25 years old. Everyone agreed that putting the kids in a group home or institution was not an option. It was a good plan, until Kathleen unexpectedly had a grand mal seizure and was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Her brother John Jr., was next at bat, sacrificing his successful career as a gymnastics coach to move home and care for his sister and other siblings. Kathleen's health is now stabilized and both brother and sister care for their family as a team. Nothing can dampen the spirits of this cheerful group. They love to sing and dance, cook and play games together. However, the crumbling condition of their 40-year-old home has become a concern. The electrical is unsafe, water leaks everywhere and there is mold and rotting wood. Everybody in town loves this charming and special family. They are local celebrities and the community rallies and have taken place to help them in every way. Unfortunately, their home is at a point where the band-aids are not enough. The Down siblings will not grow up and move away, they will not have the ability to marry or to drive cars. They need their home to be a safe and permanent one, with everything on hand to accommodate their special needs.
Alure Home Improvements of East Meadow N.Y., has volunteered to lead the build. This is Alure's eighth project for the inspiring show since 2004. While Alure is the main builder and a major contributor, each of the makeovers rely on numerous volunteers and on tremendous community support. All of Long Island is invited to witness this amazing experience. Alure is encouraging the entire Long Island community to come out and support the crews working 24/7 to build a new home for this deserving family. While over 1000 volunteers have already signed up, there still may be more unexpected needs as the build begins on Tuesday.
Alure will also coordinate a food drive for the INN (Interfaith Nutrition Network) who will collect canned or packaged food donations at the makeover site all week long. The company is also working on facilitating a special project to provide children under the age of (18) eighteen (who normally are not allowed to work on the site due to safety reasons) an opportunity to get involved with helping to create some type of artwork that will be presented as gift to the family at the end of the week.
"We are thrilled that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has selected a Long Island family for this makeover and we are excited to not only make a difference in the lives of the deserving Lutz family, but to also play a major role in inspiring the Long Island community to come together for a great cause. Even before the family was announced, we've been overwhelmed with a huge amount of community support from Long Islanders wanting to help without them even having any idea of who they would be helping. Seeing the love and support surrounding this family will make this experience even that much more special," Sal Ferro.
The location address is: 12 Ringneck Lane, East Setauket, NY 11733
Parking to access the site is at 17 N Belle Mead in East Setauket. Shuttles will be provided when the spectator area opens sometime on Tuesday. Check the fan page Monday for more information.
MEDIA - There will be a builder-family Press conference at 6pm today at the house, where Sal Ferro, the family and the executives from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will be available.
For information on how to volunteer time and/or donate resources or to follow the build all week on Alure's fan page, visit Alure's website at http://www.alure.com/ and click on the Extreme Long Island link or email extremelongisland@alure.com
Alure Home Improvements has been building dreams since 1946, and specializes in kitchens, baths, finished basements, siding, windows, roofing, sunrooms, handyman services, home energy performance, dormers and extensions. In business since 1946, Alure prides itself on friendly and knowledgeable salespeople, creative designers, meticulous installers, and superior lifetime customer service. Alure's Long Island showroom is located at 1999 Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow, NY. For more information about Alure, call 877-44-ALURE or visit http://www.alure.com/
The Emmy award winning reality program "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," now entering its 8th season, is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. It's executive-produced by Brady Connell and George Verschoor. David Goldberg is Chairman, Endemol North America. The show airs Sundays from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET on ABC.
SOURCE Alure Home Improvements
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