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Ty Pennington

by Matthew from Fort Wayne


How do you feel when watching an episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition? I feel a rush of happiness and joy for the families on the show. Ever since the first episode aired November 3, 2004, I’ve been amazed by how much that show changes people’s lives. Every day since the first episode was shown, I’ve wanted to help under privileged people in our society.

You might be wondering why I have such a strong feeling for the show. Well, when I was little, five years old, my dad decided he was going to burn our Christmas tree in the sweltering heat of mid-July. Great idea right? Wrong, one of the worst ideas ever. The tree spread like a wild fire, leading from the field by my house, to the side of my house, the living room. All in all my living room basically was burned, all the furniture, television, tables, everything was destroyed. I was so sad we were going to have to move.

Luckily, we were surrounded by neighbors who cared very deeply about us. Around two weeks later, we had new carpet, new television, couch, and our walls were fixed in total. The living room looked amazing! You would never be able to tell it got torched. The entire neighborhood put money, time, and their hearts into helping us out. I felt so lucky to have people like that around me. That is why I feel so much empathy for the people who have new homes built for them after disasters. I greatly appreciate the show and how much they fare for people. That is why I chose the Extreme Makeover Home Edition for my hero project. They to me are way better than Superman or Spiderman ever were in their movies, books, or comics.

Although this is a reality television program, it rebuilds the homes ad lives of families each season. Through the six seasons the show has produced, it has helped deserving families get back their lives and rebuild their families. When people live in bad conditions they tend to do whatever it takes to survive. That means theft, murder, or selling drugs. By this organization assisting our society, it is removing families from the streets.

This show can’t really be called a charity because they make money, but the people running the show put their time and effort into the program. The host of the show Ty Pennington for instance, real name Gary Tygret Burton, is a philanthropist. He has helped in places around the world. He helped Bayer Aspirin launch their first Wonders of the Heart contest. Ty participated in a celebrity soccer match benefiting bone marrow transplant patients. He traveled to Hawaii once and helped children with disabilities learn to surf and play other water sports. Oddly enough Ty and the twelve of the other sixteen members are avid philanthropists. Ty will for many years host the show and help under privileged families live better lives and feel better about life in general.

As for me helping in this subject, I can volunteer my time and effort into helping families rebuilding homes. I can help charities promote fund raisers to help these families who have lost their homes. I will encourage my friends and peers to help me as well. As you know I’ve felt the feeling of my home being burnt down (well a part of it) and I know the loss of your own home is devastating. I would do just about anything to give people the feeling I received when my home by rebuilt and refurnished, without even asking. This is how I will model Ty and the Extreme Makeover Home Edition show.

Page created on 9/15/2009 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 9/15/2009 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.