By Dawn Fluhler

Two churches bookended the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” Bunker Hill build. Oakbrook Community Church and First Church of the Nazarene are both located in Kokomo, Ind.

Oakbrook Community Church, which seats 1,100 people in its auditorium, hosted the kickoff rally prior to the beginning of the week-long build. The church was selected because of its size and location, according to Oakbrook’s First Impressions Coordinator Dea Mygrant.

Steve Erwin, a CPA and friend and neighbor of the Schwinghammers, coordinated the rally.

Contractors, suppliers, volunteers and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” executive producer Conrad Rickets attended the rally. The kickoff included music from the Extreme Kats, a band put together just for the event. Hallmark Homes president Paul Schwinghammer played trumpet in the band.

Other speakers included Schwinghammer’s wife, Winnie, as well as representatives of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and the American Red Cross. Ricketts showed several informational and motivational videos.

“It did a good job of driving home the importance of helping others in your community,” Erwin said.

First Church of the Nazarene, which can seat 1,500 people, hosted the show-day event. Heather Cowan’s parents and brother attend the church, so Heather asked the church to host the event.

The show-day event began at 5 p.m. with an open house in the church atrium, followed by volunteer testimony, speakers and videos in the auditorium. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – The Cowan Family” aired on ABC at 8 p.m. The event finished with reactions from the Cowan-Brown family and Hallmark Homes, as well as several presentations.

“The whole community of Kokomo and surrounding areas were extremely enthusiastic about this project,” First Church’s Senior Pastor David Leeder said.

He also described the importance of faith – faith in action making a difference in the lives of individuals and communities – in an event such as “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” demonstrating how very appropriate it was to have the two churches host the beginning and ending of the Bunker Hill build.