5/22/2005

Extreme Home Makeover does it right, again.

I love this show. In a time when most shows are about people who already have, wanting more. It is all about how much you can get for the least amount of your efforts.

Well with Extreme Home Makeover they don't do that. They only build homes for those who truly need it, those who have been hit hardest by life and can really use the help. It is truly amazing what they have done for the families they have helped over the few years and tonight is no different.

At the very start of the war in Iraq we lost a convoy of soldiers from a maintenance company. Included in that convoy were among others, Lori Piestewa, Jessica Lynch and Patrick Miller. We all heard the story of Jessica Lynch and her daring rescue by the men of the US Special Operations Command but we hear very little of Lori Piestewa.

Tonight's episode is about the family of Lori Piestewa. The 2 children she left behind and her mom and dad struggling to take care of them. The folks at Extreme Home Makeover are building the family a house to make sure they have a place to raise the kids and that is always a great thing.

If you have not watched this show I highly suggest it. I would also say that for those who did not know, Sears is a great company and they donate a ton of stuff for this show. Tonight they are donating all kinds of clothes, furniture, appliances and so on to the families of the reservation where Lori Piestewa was from in addition to all the items they will donate each week to the families of the makeover. Sears is also one of the VERY FEW companies that offers full salary and benefits to it's citizen soldiers.

We all know that right now many of the people called to active duty to fight the war in Iraq and Afghanistan are reservist or national guardsman. That means they are not full time soldiers, they are trained in their jobs but they only work for the military 2 days a month and 2 weeks in the summer (at a minimum) unless they are called to active duty. Many of them take a big pay cut when that happens and very few of their employers help them make the difference in their salaries and benefits up. Sears is not one of those companies and they make sure that any of their employees who are called to active duty have the difference in their salaries taken care of by Sears. That is simply outstanding and if you believe in supporting the troops that means Sears is a great place to start.

2 comments:

Saija said...

when the show came on tonight ... i thought that you would probably be watching and enjoying it ... they sure do pluck at the old heartstrings don't they! i am such a softie for these stories ...

opforsoldier said...

I try not to miss an episode. They did a home in my neighboring town and my wifes employer was one of the sponsers. I wanted so badly to be on the crew but there is no way I could have talked my way into that with my back.