‘Extreme Makeover’ volunteers feted

The students prepared a banquet honoring those who worked on the project.

CANFIELD — Some Mahoning County Career and Technical Center students decided that the volunteers and sponsors involved in the “Extreme Makeover: My Hometown Mahoning Valley” project needed some special recognition of their own.

Students in the school’s culinary arts program donated their time and skills to prepare a meal to honor those involved in the project in building a new home on Shields Road for Rebecka Bailing and her three children.

The banquet was organized to celebrate the achievements of more than 400 volunteers who came together to help build the house in just 38 days for a single mother in need.

Don Murphy, general manager for Donnell Ford, was one of the organizers of the Extreme Makeover project, and has a daughter in the MCCTC culinary class.

He contacted MCCTC culinary arts instructor, Chef Matt Putzier, and coordinated the donation of large amounts of food for the event.

“It was not a mandatory program. We had students coming back at night, after hours — all as volunteers. The students really worked so hard for this wonderful project,” Murphy said.

They prepared a buffet-style banquet with Putzier working with the students to create multiple entrees, salads and sides for the honored guests.

“This style of food preparation is completely different from the usual — cooking at home for three to four people, or even dish-by-dish, as you would in a restaurant,” Putzier said. “Preparing massive quantities of food for such a great cause was a wonderful opportunity for the students.”

Culinary arts student Rick Day was enthusiastic about the experience.

“I enjoyed being a part of such a huge community effort, everybody working together to help out,” Day said. “I learned a lot about how much work it takes to organize such a big meal — and the food was great.”

The “Extreme Makeover” project began as an effort to get volunteers to put a new roof on the home. However, when a home builder looked at the existing house, he soon determined that it needed to be razed because of mold, electrical problems and other matters.

A group of six area men — Murphy; builder Sam Pitzulo; John Morvay , who works in the finance industry; Steve Bott, manager of Donnell Ford Lincoln Mercury in Salem; Jim Rach, owner of Praxair in Canfield; and Joe Reinthaler, owner of Reinthaler’s Auto Village in Canfield — took it upon themselves to organize the building project.

Dozens of businesses and individuals stepped forward to help, erecting a custom-designed, 2,100-square-foot home in just five weeks, finishing in early December.