THE BEST SHOW ON TELEVISION

FERDINAND, IND. — When Best Home Furnishings heard that ABC-TV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” was coming to help a deserving family just 10 minutes from its Southern Indiana corporate headquarters, Best jumped on the opportunity to lend a hand.

“As a family owned and operated company, Best strongly believes in helping our community—and we do so on a regular basis,” said Brian Lange, president.

“What’s more, we felt very strongly about the cause—a woman fighting breast cancer. We’ve had family members as well as employees diagnosed with cancer, so we know how devastating it can be.”

The Nov. 12 episode of “Extreme Makeover”—airing at 8 p.m. EDT—will be Indiana’s first and only episode. In this show, viewers see the community of St. Meinrad, just 10 miles from Best Home Furnishings headquarters, rallying around the family of Steve and Shawna Farina.

Shawna, 27, is a breast cancer survivor, wife, and mother of Bryan, 4, Summer, 6, and Laci 7. Ironically, Shawna watched her mother battle breast cancer as a child—and now her children are doing the same.

Over the last year, Shawna has undergone chemo treatments, radiation, a bilateral mastectomy, and a total hysterectomy. In the process, the family has amassed large medical bills.

What’s more, they’ve had to put their dream of fixing up their 134-year-old farmhouse on hold. That is, until Best, the “Extreme” crew and 250 volunteers descended upon Brewery Street in the normally quiet St. Meinrad.

Designers order, Best delivers

According to Eric Vollmer, advertising coordinator at Best, a few of the off-camera “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” designers visited the Best Home Furnishings campus two weeks in advance of filming to see what the furniture manufacturer had to offer.

“The designers came to our plant to specify the fabric, finishes, and models that complemented the rural and rustic theme of the house,” said Vollmer.”

Best donated virtually all of the upholstered furniture in the house that included:

Unloading the furniture

On the furniture move-in day, Vollmer and two other Best employees donned the traditional blue “Extreme Makeover” shirts and drove the Best Home Furnishings semi to the front door. They included Greg Sicard, national sales manager, and Keith Sherman, truck shop manager.

Also helping them unload the Best furniture were monks from the nearby Saint Meinrad Archabbey and other volunteers. Shawna is a former employee of the Archabbey, just two blocks away.

“The monks were the only ones who weren’t required to wear the blue ‘Extreme Makeover’ shirts on the set,” said Vollmer with a smile.

“Move that bus!”

It took the 250 volunteers 96 hours to demolish the Farinas’ old home and a neighboring, abandoned tavern.

Now, a gorgeous, 3,200 square-foot house with four bedrooms and 3 ˝ baths stands in its place.

Sicard said the experience was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, seeing throngs of people energized to support a needy family.

“‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ provided Best Home Furnishings with an unforgettable experience and wonderful chance to give back to our neighbors—but just on a much grander scale than usual.”

ABOUT BEST HOME FURNISHINGS

Established in 1962, Best Home Furnishings is one of the largest furniture manufactures in the world with facilities covering over 1,000,000 square feet in five Southern Indiana locations. It manufacturers chairs, recliners, stationary sofas, motion sofas, office seating, glide rockers, and tables. Still family owned and operated, the Lange family plays critical roles in the organization as members of the executive team.

ABOUT EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION

“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” is an Emmy award-winning ABC reality television series and one of ABC’s top-rated shows. In “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” a family’s house—including all rooms, exterior, and landscaping—is made over by a team of builders and designers in seven days while the family goes off on vacation. It’s a spinoff of “Extreme Makeover.” The series is a production of Endemol USA in association with Disney/BuenaVista’s Greengrass Productions.