Local teacher, student help with 'Extreme Makeover'
By Sarah Freedman Contributing Writer

(l to r) AVRTHS junior Pat Costello and teacher Mike Donahue show off shirts from the television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." They worked on a makeover for a family in Maynard. PHOTO/SUBMITTED

Marlborough - Every Sunday night, local viewers see Ty Pennington of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" yell, along with hundreds of volunteers and neighbors, "Move that bus!" On Feb. 29, a teacher and a student from Marlborough's Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School (AVRTHS) were part of the show, helping a deserving Maynard family.

More than 1,000 volunteers, which included Maynard resident Mike Donahue, a painting and design technologies teacher at AVRTHS, and Pat Costello, a junior at the school, helped build a 3,000-squarefoot handicapped-accessible house at 13 Elm St. for Paul Giunta Jr., 37, and his family: his wife, Renee; sons, Dylan, 6, and Cameron, 4; and daughter, Brianna, almost 2.

A little less than two years ago, Paul suffered severe head injuries in a car accident when he was driving his sons home from the hospital. Brianna had just been born and was in the hospital with her mother.

While his sons were injuryfree, Paul was left unable to walk; he recovered enough to leave Massachusetts General Hospital and Spaulding Rehab last year.

While the family has received the support of town residents over the last two years, the newly built house means that Paul, who uses a wheelchair and has had to live with his parents since the accident, can now live with his family.

Donahue, who has taught at AVRTHS for three years, has experience as a residential and commercial painting and wall-covering contractor and is an alumnus of the school.

He was a member of the painting crew and said that the crew started on the second day of the construction. Ninety percent of the work was done one morning, according to Donahue, and the crew returned to hang wall-covering the next afternoon.

Donahue grew up in Maynard and called it a small town, where the adage "everyone knows each other" really applies.

He himself has known Renee a long time and had been used to seeing her at a local gym.

"I hadn't seen her in a while," Donahue said, "but when I learned of the situation and the opportunity to help, getting involved was a no-brainer."

According to Donahue, the experience, which was a family eff ort that involved his brothers Mark and Pat on the house framing and wall installation crew, is more emotional when you are on the crew instead of watching it on television.

"When you watch it on TV, the 'Extreme Makeover' folks always do a good job of helping people who need it," he said. "But when you get a chance to use skills you have to help someone you know, ... it just makes it more special and emotional."

Donahue called the experience fantastic and said it was "moving" that so many people helped the family.

"The people who built and finished this house are contractors and professional tradespeople who are usually competing with each other," he said, "but all that was put aside to get this done so that this family could be together again."

The volunteers accomplished something great, he said.

"Paul has not been able to be with his family for two years, and the 'Extreme Makeover' people and all those volunteers changed that in one week," Donahue said. "How can you not love that?"

The story of the Giuntas' house is scheduled for this season of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."