BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is coming to Kern County, and in preparation for the project, a pep rally was held Monday night in order to excite the community and ask for help.
"We're here to ask for help. We need all kinds of people, thousands of volunteers will put on a blue shirt and come out and swing a hammer or help us feed people, help us with all the different jobs you need," said Milan Vasic, a producer for the show.
Dozens turned out to fox theater today in order to pledge their help to the extreme makeover team. Including some from local companies who are offering their services free of charge.
"I've had times where I was not doing so well. So I can see, you know, and there's a lot of people out there that are just going through some hard times and they need some help," said John Gunsolus of Gonsolus Construction Incorporated. "It's kind of like pay it forward, the more you give, the more you get. That's the way I look at it," he continued.
"It's super cool and amazing just to kinda be on the ground with them doing it in ten days," said Sarah Pierce, who is the President of Pro Safety and Rescue, a company that will provide on-site emergency services while the house is built.
So whose house is being made over? That's still being decided, bu the show has received several hundred applications and is going through them to find the best stories.
"What we're looking for is heroes. Heroes come in a lot of different forms, but at the end of the day it's people out in their community making a difference. If we can impact the life and help somebody that's helping other people that pay-it-forward can go on for years and years and years," Vasic said.
Vasic's crew will door knock and surprise the family they pick on August 22, then transform their house soon after. He says they need about a thousand volunteers in order to get the extreme makeover done.
"We're trying to bring people together to do something fantastic for one of their neighbors, and I think it's a magical thing," he said.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition's original 9-year run was on ABC, now the series is returning on HGTV. Vasic says he doesn't exactly know when the Kern County episode will air, but it will be sometime in 2020.
Interested in volunteering to help? Sign up here.
