It was a “street party” that has become a grand tradition in Aldergrove.
The Extreme Home Repair marked its 15th year of transforming homes and lives here with the “Big Reveal” on Monday afternoon.
Shortly after 5 p.m. the crowd of well-wishers stood aside as the school bus rolled away to allow the Adam family their first look at their home in almost three weeks.
The big grins on the faces of Chris and Charlene and their children said it all as they took in the view of their family home in suburban Aldergrove.
“We left it in good hands. All we can say is ‘Thank you’ — we are truly blessed,” said Chris.
The couple and their children and new granddaughter then walked inside, escorted by Pastor Mike Dauncey and the Extreme Home Repair crew leaders, for a tour of their renovated house and yard.
The well-wishers were treated to performances by Aldergrove’s Springman family band and a bouncy castle was set up in a neighbour’s front yard for the children in attendance to enjoy. Following the Adam family’s tour the guests were also permitted to have a look inside the home.
Nothing was spared in the revamp of the home, which included custom landscaping of the front and back yards along with the extensive interior and exterior renovations. More than 150 volunteers worked on the project, and about 80 companies donated materials as well as providing volunteer help with the installations.
Lorne Brownmiller was this year’s project coordinator and has worked on all 18 projects in the history of the Extreme Home Repair. Extreme Home Repair is an outreach of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its Acts of Kindness organization.
The Adam family was chosen for this year’s project as the couple have suffered serious health issues that prevented them from completing their renovation of the “fixer-upper” they purchased here for their family. Chris was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and his wife Charlene suffered a stroke.
Brownmiller said, “The businesses were incredible, they all stepped in and said ‘what do you need?’ For example about a dozen volunteers from Farm Credit Canada in Abbotsford came in last Thursday and did all the landscaping in a blitz. And Case Timmerman not only supplied the plants, all of them, but also did the design for the landscaping.”
“We had up to 50 volunteers working at any one time. Our volunteers love what they do,” said Pastor Dave Jamieson. “We did do two homes in three of those years but decided it was too much, so it’s down to one a year now.”
Jameson said the Extreme Home Repair is one of their most popular programs and he anticipates they will continue the tradition as long as their teams support it with their labours of love.
“We are all getting older but we are bringing in younger folks to carry it forward in the years to come.”
