Local volunteers offer extra hands for 'Extreme Makeover' home build
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on July 22, 2011 1:46 PM
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Goldsboro Builders Supply Business Development Manager Kristy Thompson, third from right, was among a group of seven locals who volunteered this week for an "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" build in Fayetteville. Mrs. Thompson's employer, known for helping Habitat for Humanity, also made a sizable lumber donation to the project.
You might not see Kristy Thompson if you tune in this October to catch the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" reveal that unfolded Thursday in Fayetteville.
The show's host likely won't point out that much of the lumber used to construct the Steps N Stages Jubilee House was donated from Goldsboro Builders Supply.
But for Mrs. Thompson, her co-worker, Nicole Gossage, and their employer, just being a part of a project that saw hundreds of people come together for a worthy cause was enough. The home belongs to Barbara Summey Marshall, a 15-year Navy veteran, who bought the it with the hopes of providing shelter, support and services such as mentoring and life coaching to homeless female veterans.
"I don't care (if I see what I did on TV). I've got it right here," Mrs. Thompson said, placing her hand over her heart. "I'll take these memories with me forever."
Long before the nation's first lady showed up at the site to lend a hand, a pair of employees from the Goldsboro company that donated supplies to the effort had been to Fayetteville and back several times over -- sorting through books, assembling lights for the construction team, sweeping floors and hauling trash.
"You don't sit around. They work you," Mrs. Thompson said Wednesday as she prepared to return to the site. "We would basically stay until we couldn't move anymore. I'm still sore."
But the discomfort, she insisted, was simply another welcomed consequence of following her heart -- a decision that, regardless of the aches and pains that came with it, she would make again in a heartbeat.
"It's OK. I've got a lifetime to heal," Mrs. Thompson said, smiling. "It's great just to know you're a part of that project. It's just awesome. There are some big hearts involved."