Good news! - Extreme Makeover home edition Buffalo project

[Michele J]

still needed
paper cups
napkins
plastic spoons and forks
bottled water

[WNYresident]

I"ll donate to buffalo reuse for some pizza for everyone. I physically have no time this weekend to go get it or bring it down though....

If someone wants to stop over to my office and pick up a donation check I'm fine with that.

[Michele J]

Ty many hungry tree planters will be mighty happy!
Remember all donations are tax deductible

[kernwatch]

The latest from Bflo News:

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/852011.html

Buffalo ready for 'Extreme Makeover'
4,500 volunteers await family's ID

By Stephen T. Watson and Jay Rey
News Staff Reporters, Updated: November 06, 2009, 8:23 AM /

One lucky local family will open their door Saturday morning to a reality TV camera crew, but 4,500 other local residents already are opening theirs to help.

ABC's “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” is coming to Buffalo, bringing some Hollywood-style buzz and CIA-level secrecy with it. Since word of the visit got out last month, about 4,500 people — far more than usual for other “Home Edition” cities — have signed up to volunteer.

“We have been amazed at the response,” said Mark Lazzara, the founder and chief executive of Western New York AmeriCorps, the service organization that is coordinating volunteers.

Saturday's “door knock” kicks off eight frantic days of around-the-clock home demolition and construction — all with donated labor and materials. It will be a scene of controlled chaos, and fans of the show and curious members of the public will have the chance to check it out over the next week.

“We are figuring out how to do it,” David Stapleton, president of David Homes, said of the tight schedule. “Fortunately, I thrive on pressure.”

“Home Edition” each week selects a family that is struggling for financial or other reasons as the recipient of a new or significantly refurbished residence. The Buffalo area family's identity, along with most other project details, is shrouded in the code of silence typically reserved for military maneuvers or the witness protection program.

Even Mayor Byron W. Brown insists he doesn't know where the house will be built, while those who are in the loop say they can't blab about it to nosy reporters. The producers have “kept me completely in the dark,” Brown said Thursday.

The traveling “Home Edition” road show is stopping in Buffalo for the first time, a visit that the show's staff, city and police officials, contractors and others have planned for weeks. Producers from the show narrowed a list of nominees down to five finalists, who were told to be prepared for a visit Saturday by Ty Pennington and a “Home Edition” crew.

Stapleton said the “door knock” will “probably be one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life.”

The winning family will appear at a news conference later Saturday before being whisked away for a week's vacation to Walt Disney World — Disney owns ABC — under the watchful eye of show chaperones. Workers will remove the family's belongings and place them in storage before starting to tear down the home Sunday.

Fifty volunteers from Buffalo ReUse will work during the demolition to remove framing lumber, flooring, windows, doors and other salvageable items from the home, said Vince Kuntz, president of the not-for-profit group's board. “The whole building has to be gone and the site clean by noon Monday,” Kuntz said.

Construction begins after that and will continue around the clock until Nov. 14. That's when the show's celebrity designers will return to reveal the completed, environmentally friendly structure to the family.

David Homes and a legion of subcontractors and suppliers are donating their employees' time, building materials and other resources to the “Home Edition” project. “They're eager to show the world that Buffalo can do this quicker and better,” Stapleton said.

About 500 skilled laborers will take part, while 4,000 members of the public have signed up to assist.

“I just like to give back to the community and help out,” said Angelo McKnight, a security guard, Town of Tonawanda volunteer firefighter and “Home Edition” fan who registered.

Not all of the volunteers will work on the house, but organizers said they will put as many people as possible to good use. “There are very few people who will be building the hero house,” Lazzara said. “The rest will be working on other houses in the neighborhood, helping serve food, parking, doing cleanup and landscaping.”

Volunteers, curiosity seekers and reporters will meet at a staging area about a mile away and be bused to the site. There will be a spectator area set up from Tuesday to Nov. 14, Lazzara said.

Buffalo police will be at the scene day and night for traffic and crowd control, Capt. Mark Makowski said. The city will pick up police overtime or other costs, but the show's good work, the national publicity and its estimated $1.4 million economic impact make this worthwhile, Brown spokesman Peter K. Cutler said.

Residents in the Finger Lakes went through all this about a year ago when “Home Edition” came to Geneva. Mahoney Design & Build constructed a 6,200-square-foot home for a family there.

Tim Mahoney, owner of Mahoney Design & Build, has talked extensively with David Homes about what to expect and was asked by the ABC crew to be on the scene in Buffalo. Mahoney cautioned that it may be difficult to manage this many volunteers, but he said Buffalo should look forward to its “Home Edition” experience.

“This is an awesome opportunity to put the city on the map in ways that you haven't been before,” Mahoney said. “Have patience and embrace the show. The show will make sure they leave the city much better than they found it.”

News Staff Reporter Brian Meyer contributed to this report. For more details on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” in Buffalo, visit www.davidhomesextreme.com

swatson@buffnews.com and jrey@buffnews.com

[Michele J]

Buffalo is truly the city of good neighbors
We are all very excited about this weekend..
Over 4,500 people have signed up to volunteer..That is extremely impressive!
And please keep in mind that Buffalo ReUse is always in need of volunteers for various projects and our store the ReSource is chock full of doors,windows,sinks,toilets,bathtubs,wood,spindles ,lighting..you name it we probably have it at about 50% less than you will pay at the big box stores AND shopping at our store is a supporting locally owned business We are even open on Sundays from 10am -4pm

The store is located at
298 Northampton St
between Jefferson and Main St

[Michele J]

** 10% off everything in the store this Saturday and Sunday only*
Just say "Michele sent me"

Dont forget tomorrow we will be planting over 400 trees..so in honor of this event we offer the discount

[Michele J]

Today begins the busiest weekend in Buffalo ReUse history and I am both excited and nervous..We have worked incredibly hard building Buffalo ReUse from the ground up and we have come pretty far in less than 3 years!
I was just thinking last night after spending over 3 hours in a meeting for Buffalo ReUse that besides raising my children I have not put as much time and effort into anything nearly as much I have with Buffalo ReUse and how sincerely proud I am of all the good things we have accomplished and all the great things we WILL accomplish
We have had our ups and downs but we continue to move forward and much of it is because of some terrific people who post right here on suwny!
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT TOGETHER WE CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS..WELL WE CAN ATLEAST MOVE HOUSES LOL
Have a great weekend everyone..if you arent volunteering for one of the projects this weekend please consider stopping by the store and looking around..There is something for everyone at the ReSource! Michele

[keyboard150]

Lets go!

[kernwatch]

My earlier post responding to a Bflo News comment about Mass Ave was removed.

Here is the latest:

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/853400.html

'Extreme Makeover' comes knocking for Buffalo family

By Jay Rey, NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: November 07, 2009, 10:26 AM /

Television personality Ty Pennington this morning knocked on the door of a Jamaican immigrant living on Buffalo's West Side.

"Good morning, Powell family," Pennington shouted about 9:30 a.m.

And with that introduction, Delores Powell, who came to the United States 20 years ago determined to make a home here for her family, knew she was the recipient of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

She is a single mother with four of her children living who attend Buffalo Public Schools. Police sealed off the area and will keep it sealed off until about 6 a.m. Sunday.

"Home Edition" selects families that are struggling for financial or other reasons as the recipient of a new or significantly refurbished residence.

Powell's identity had been kept secret until the knock came this morning.

The Buffalo News profiled her in April 2008, as she was trying to renovate a house she had purchased at 228 Massachusetts Ave.

When she and her family moved into the house in September 2004, there was a big hole in one of the floors of the two-story home. There was no heat, because the boiler was busted and the pipes were lined with asbestos. The gas company had informed her there were no gas lines to the house.

Yet through it all, she has kept her determination and optimism.

"Leaving Jamaica and coming to America was really wonderful. It is a privilege," she told The News in 2008. "Everyone wants to come here for a whole lot more opportunities. It's a land of opportunity."

Six blocks of Massachusetts from West to 14th were cordoned off by Buffalo police, and they are not allowing cars or foot traffic in the area. Security for the show knocked on neighbors' doors about 8:15 a.m., asking them to move their cars.

The neighbors received a notice a couple weeks ago that someone in the area was a finalist for the show and could be selected. They didn't seem to be irritated at the request to move their vehicles.

"I think it is going to be great. We've lived in the neighborhood a long time," said Dave English os Massachusetts Avenue. "It is a nice little shot in the arm."

Several neighbors were out on their porches this morning, as the crew's vans and vehicles moved in.

"It is a blue-collar, working neighborhood, a melting pot," said English, a 20-year resident. "It is not a bad neighborhood."

Asians, Hispanic and some older Italians are residents of the area.

English said many families own their homes and try to keep them up.

jrey@buffnews.com

[Michele J]

Congratulations Delores!

[WNYresident]

PHew.. the secret was out earlier on speakup and no wanted the family's surprised spoiled..

[Michele J]

TY Tony

[therising]

How much time do they give the family to get their stuff out of the house before they demolish it?

[therising]

There's gonna be tons of people who say

"why did they have to give it to an immigrant who's only be here a few years? Why can't the give it to a native Buffalonian who may be struggling, despite working hard? Maybe a community activist who put the needs of the community before their own?"

And, I have to say...I have a hard time disagreeing with anyone who says that.

EDIT I misread it the first time, and see that she's been here 22 years. I read it wrong the first time, and thought she came here in 2002. That does change my thoughts on it.

[blockclubof1]

Sorry to be so harsh, but does the family have some kind of attachment to this bombed out neighborhood? Why doesn't "Makeover" fix up a decent house in Parkside or give the family a nice waterfront view. Building a new house on a basically worthless piece of property and moving them back into this rotting "community" is doing them a favor? Somebody help me here. I'm miffed!