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Fundraisers planned for 'Extreme Makeover' home

Two "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" fundraisers are planned to help offset the costs of Keefer family's new home.

A casino night will be held 7 p.m. Thursday at The Harrisburg Hilton for $50 per ticket, which includes dinner, poker, blackjack, craps and roulette, a silent and live auction and a live band, said coordinator Robin McCandless.

And on Friday, another event is planned at Lauxmont Farms in Wrightsville, she said.

The $50-per-ticket event includes wine, desserts, an interactive DJ playing games such as Jeopardy, and a silent and live auction, said McCandless.

Tickets for both events may be purchased at the V.I.P. tent at the Keefers' makeover site at 75 Dubbers Drive; Country Inn & Suites at 245 St. Charles Way; or by contacting McCandless at 423-779-6899.

The events' venues, food, entertainment and items up for bid in the auction were all donated by businesses and individuals within southcentral Pennsylvania, she said.

The "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" design crew will make a surprise appearance at one of the fundraiser events, McCandless said.

The fundraising goal is to raise at least $100,000 at both events to help pay off the Keefers' mortgage, set up a home maintenance fund and to pay for Brian Keefer's school, she said.

WHTM abc27 - Extreme Makeover home doubles in size Wednesday

Wednesday was all about the build and the builders making the Keefer's home possible, transforming it into something they've never seen before. The walls, the roof, the siding and the shingles all went up.

Things change every minute thanks to hundreds of volunteers.

Although it seems like everything is new, builders are taking care to preserve some of the old. Some useful pieces, like kitchen cabinets, will be donated to Habitat for Humanity as the family had hoped.

"I know Dawn was really sentimental about the house," said head builder Jeff Musser from Musser Home Builders in Dillsburg. "That's why we didn't want to demolish the whole house. It was a nice house, it was structurally sound, so we were able to keep part of this house. You're not going to be able to tell from the outside that any of it's there, but when she goes in, she'll realize things have been maintained, which I know that was really important to her."

Musser said his volunteers are loving every second of working on the Keefer's home. They pull 22 hour shifts, head home for an hour or two to sleep, wake up in the middle of the night, just wanting to head back to the build.

The Keefer's home has nearly doubled in size. The house will have lots of new things for Brian Keefer, who was paralyzed from the neck down in a gymnastics accident about four years ago.

"We're doing this primarily for Brian," said Musser. "We really believe that if he has the right tools, the right living environment, he will be able to eventually walk again. So, what I'm most excited about is doing a therapy pool area and some other high tech stuff which you can see next week. It's just really going to help him be able to get back movement in his legs."

Of course, a new home means higher bills for the family, but Musser is hoping that won't be a problem.

"We have a goal and we believe we'll be able to achieve it of paying off their mortgage," said Musser. "We know that we're going to increase their utility bills and taxes and everything. When you do something on this scale, it's just going to happen. So, we absolutely want to make sure it's not going to be a financial burden. We fully expect to raise enough money to pay their mortgage off, and we're also doing other energy efficient things to help out. A solar company came on board, so we're going to do solar electric which is going to help out a lot, too.

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