Operation Blessing
Operation Blessing Helps Extreme Makeover Home Edition
By Dan Reany
The 700 Club
CBN.com
– Virginia Beach, VA
Wherever Extreme Makeover Home Edition goes to work, people line up to catch glimpses of Ty Pennington, Paige Hemmis, Ed Sanders, Xzibit, and Johnny Littlefield, hosts of one of America’s highest rated shows of all time.
700 Club producer, Dan Reany speaks with Ty Pennington. “Ty, man, I know you want to come out and help a family that needs it and deserves it. But at the heart of it, why do you do what you do?”
Ty Pennington: “I can’t think of a better job. As an artist, to have a creative outlet where what you do creatively not only looks nice and you can be proud of it, but changes a life, I mean, it doesn’t get any better than that. And more than that, it’s just not just about me, it’s about the fact it’s a community that comes together. And, to see the amount of people from all over that come together to work as a team to do something phenomenal. It proves that anything is possible. It’s like witnessing a miracle every week. It’s hard to believe that we can pull it off.”
Ed Sanders shares his perspective. “It’s nice to give back. I’ve been doing TV for 30 years in London. And I’ve never had a TV show in my career, whether it’s hosting or acting, that has ever really meant anything to anyone, even me. It’s nice to be on a show that’s actually giving back.”
In this case they’re giving back to Beverly Hill Burdette and her family. Over the years Beverly’s fostered more than 35 children, and adopted six. Now the whole family works to help feed and clothe the homeless. But they’ve been doing it all out of a really small, worn out house.
Dan Reany: “So we’ve seen the hosts milling around doing their thing today. The house was really stubborn coming down, so it was kind of slow going at first. But it is down now, and here’s when things really kick into high gear. They have 106 hours, that’s four days and 10 hours, to build a brand new house from the ground up. It seems impossible, but if anyone can do it, it’s Ty Pennington and his team.”
For every build, Ty and the others rely heavily on volunteers and donors who provide all the materials. This project happened in Virginia Beach, Operation Blessing’s own back yard, so we took part in a major way. Duane Cotton and Trademark Construction headed the build.
Builder Duane Cotton: The biggest help we had, the absolute biggest help, was Operation Blessing.
Operation Blessing offered up 17 highly skilled guys to work on everything from framing to dry wall, and at the last minute paid for nearly all of the lumber for the entire house. For that, the hosts took notice.
Johnny Littlefield: “Saved the day. Thanks, pal.”
Ty Pennington: “Great. Love it. Thank you.”
Xzibit: “I appreciate you, man, thank you.”
Operation Blessing helped fill in the gaps nearly every step of the way. Like the rest of the volunteers, our guys put on their blue shirts and got to work.
Paige Hemmis: “I swear those little blue shirts are sprouting wings, because they’re our angels.”
Operation Blessing’s Jody Gettys said she enjoyed having a chance to see the hosts in action. “The hosts and the talent they really know what they’re doing from the construction side. I watched Ed up there directing the crane as they were moving modules in and making sure they were set just in place. So to see them being more than just being TV stars but really knowing their trade has been inspiring as well.”
Dan Reany: “Paige, I think one of the things that a lot of viewers don’t realize is that before you did anything in TV you really had a rock solid background in construction. You ran your own company.”
Paige Hemmis: “I did. Yes, I had a rent to own home business where I helped first time family members buy their own home. And when I got the show I was actually working on 15 homes. I was working on 15 projects. Then when I got the show, I thought, ‘Oh no, I can’t keep this schedule up.’ So I decided to leave that and come do the show full time. And that was eight years ago, so it’s been quite a blessing.”
Dan Reany: “Now, you also are an EMT and a wedding planner.”
Paige Hemmis: “Yes. I was one of those kids growing up who was like, ‘I want to be a doctor and then I want to be a wedding planner.’ So I went on the road to become a doctor. I actually went to school here at Eastern Virginia Medical School for a year. I was an EMT, thought that was where I wanted to go, and then I started volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, and decided that I loved construction. I love real estate, and so I left med school to pursue that. And while I needed to make money I was a wedding planner.”
Dan Reany: “Now, (Johnny) where did you learn the trade? Because, if I recall, most of your background is in acting.”
Johnny Littlefield: “Acting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was on a soap opera for years. I paid my way through college and conservatory and graduate school swinging a hammer. Yeah, I had to keep the lights on, so I built houses.”
Dan Reany: “Kind of a Harrison Ford thing going on.”
Johnny Littlefield: “Yeah. I wish I was Han Solo, though. That’d be cool.”
With the help of all the volunteers, the shell of the house was up in just three days.
Dan Reany to Duane Cotton: “Where did this house come from?”
Duane Cotton: “We just set it in place last night.”
Dan Reany: “Just kind of dropped it in there. I can’t believe it. It looks like a finished house from the outside. The chimney’s up.”
Duane Cotton: “The stonework was done one at a time.”
Dan Reany: “And now how’s your schedule looking?”
Duane Cotton: “The overall project is in good shape. We have some pitfalls, but we also have some areas that were better than expected. Yesterday morning we were in a pretty tight span trying to get everything done. Operation Blessing, of course, sent some more people out and gave us a hand. We love you guys.”
While work moved inside, things were still bustling outside.
Dan Reany: “This is what happens when Extreme Makeover comes to town. It’s party time all week. Probably the first parade that’s ever been down this street.”
Then just one day later, it was time for the big reveal.
This was the moment everyone had been waiting for. For the first time, Beverly and her family got to see their new, 4,300 square foot home.
Beverly Hill Burdette: “I just thank God for every one of you guys, every single one of you. If I could hug everybody that was out here, you’d get a hug.”
Fred Burdette: “I want to say, “Thank you,’ to Operation Blessing. I appreciate everything you’ve done. It’s a warm feeling. It’s a good feeling. And it’s got to be God. Who else could do it?”
The day after the reveal, the hosts were back on the road, but the blessings kept coming -- including a few that were rather unique.
“A year’s worth of groceries.”
“An extreme hair makeover.”
“Extreme bug killing.”
“The gift of t-shirts.”
“Cupcakes for a year.”
“Free burritos for a year!”
Looking back on the week, it was unbelievable to see how much work got done in such a short amount of time.
Duane Cotton: “We had the best Carpenter of all on our side this week.”
Dan Reany: “Who’s that?”
Duane Cotton: “Jesus Christ.”
Xzibit: “Reaching out and helping thy neighbor. That’s what it’s all about.”
Still, it’s the builder who’s really on the spot to get it all done.
Paige Hemmis: “We just give them a schedule and say, like, ‘I know you’ve never built a house in seven days, actually five days, but here’s a schedule. If you guys think you can do it, we’re here to support you.’ For us that’s the fun part, because you never know. Every time we come someplace we are, we’re literally crossing our fingers and praying it gets done in five days. And we hope for the best.”
Dan Reany: “And somehow you manage to get it done.”
Paige Hemmis: “Somehow. Somehow.”
Ty Pennington: “Yeah, I’m blessed to be able to have the job where, you know, at the end of the day we can all be proud of the fact that we did something that’ll stand the test of time and changed a life. Not everybody gets to say that. But it takes a lot of people.”
Jody Gettys: “So to be able to partner with ABC Extreme Makeover Home Edition right here at home has been like a dream come true for Operation Blessing.”
Beverly Hill Burdette (the new home owner): “You don’t know how blessed I feel that God has touched my heart as well as yours. And you are all a blessing. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. I thank you.”
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