Many have asked what will happen in the long-term for the family who has ongoing medical bills, and now a bigger home to maintain. Though the new home came at no cost to the family, utilities and home maintenance were not included.

Fortunately, the community, sponsors and builder planned ahead to help the family.

A charity auction during build week raised more than $18,000 for the family to use toward home and medical expenses. Dr. Tavel Optical Group donated 15 years of eye care to the family. This is a significant contribution, valued at more than $30,000. And Ball State University awarded four-year, full-tuition scholarships to each of the four Cowan-Brown children. At today’s tuition rate, these scholarships have a total value near $120,000.

As for the home, Hallmark Homes home has included its standard warranty on the Cowan-Brown home. This includes a 2-year workmanship warranty and a 10-year structural warranty covering anything normally covered under the RWC National Warranty Guidelines. Hallmark will perform a 30-day, 11-month and 23-month walk-through with the family.

The new home was built with energy efficient lighting, circuit breakers and surge protection that is intended to reduce related energy bills by as much as 85 percent. Installation of all new Energy Star appliances will reduce their related energy costs by up to 50 percent.

The build also included a geothermal closed loop heating system. This type of system works by extracting ground heat to warm the liquid contained in the heating system pipes. The warmed liquid requires less electric energy to reach the desired temperature, reducing total energy costs.

Perhaps the most impressive cost-cutting measure is the installation of a wind turbine that can produce enough energy to power a 2,000 square foot home. It is expected to cut the Cowan-Brown family’s energy bills by 30 to 80 percent, depending on their energy usage.

See the blog’s Sponsors section to read about the different companies that gave generously to the Cowan-Brown home build.

In today’s economic situation, giving back to the community might seem like the last concern on the minds of CEOs and presidents of companies nationwide. That’s not the case for Schneider Electric, a $45 billion global company with ties to Indiana through the Square D factory in Peru.

Amy Huntington, president of Schneider Electric U.S., flew to Indiana to visit the build site before the Cowan-Brown’s new home was complete. She said Schneider Electric’s involvement with the build was a way for the company to give back.

“Giving back to the community is a big part of our philosophy and our culture,” she said. “It’s been exciting for us to see so many of our employees from the Peru plant come out and lend a hand.”

About 90 employees from the Square D factory helped with the week-long build. The company provided panel boards with circuit protection and surge protection for the home. It also donated indoor lighting for the home through Juno Lighting, another local subsidiary of Schneider Electric. Huntington said the company wanted to help where it could with the donations.

“We toured the house and it’s amazing to see what can happen in less than a week,” she said. “I know the team from Hallmark has to be exhausted. They supplied all the labor and the plans. We supplied the product and that’s the easy part.”

Huntington said all of the workers from the Peru plant who worked on the job did so on their own time and some even took vacation time to help. The decision to help with the build came after Hallmark Homes got in touch with Schneider Electric to see if it would be willing to donate some of the necessary parts for the home. Huntington said making the call to help with the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build revealed some surprising connections.

“It’s pretty inspirational to hear about Kori and her challenges and how she has inspired people around her,” she said. “When we got the call to ask about our interest, I think it was an easy decision for our plant manager. Coincidentally, when the family was made public, they attend the same church as several of the employees from our Peru plant. So there was a personal connection there with a lot of the workers. It’s kind of neat that at Peru, where we build the load centers, all the employees watched the panel come off the line. They knew that the panels were for this family. It was really a neat thing within the plant.”

All told, Schneider Electric donated more than $40,000 in equipment and cash to the build. Huntington said this investment had a noticeable affect on worker morale in Peru. Marty Hanna, vice president of communication for Schneider Electric, said the impact was felt beyond Indiana as well.

“We announced this to all our people in North America, and there are about 14,000 people in North America,” he said. “I just talked to the plant manager who sent out the announcement and he said he’s getting emails from all over North America saying what a great thing this is. As a company it’s something we get behind and support. People love to see this sort of stuff especially these days.”

Huntington said Hallmark Homes did a great job of involving sponsors in the build. She was impressed with the interactions between the community and the companies that made the build possible. She said Paul Schwinghammer, president of Hallmark Homes, and Derek Wilder, CEO of Hallmark Homes, helped make the build special.

“We’re really impressed with Paul and Derek and their commitment to the community,” she said. “Their business culture really does seem to be one about giving back. We’ve met family members while we’ve been here; we’ve met every employee that’s been on site and seen the work. There’s a lot of pride and craftsmanship that’s going into this home.”

A new house wasn’t all the Cowan-Brown family received during the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build. The children, Ryan, Trevor, Mason and Kori, also received a gift from Ball State University.

The day after the build was finished, the Cowan-Browns met in their new front yard for a press conference with a twist. Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president for Marketing and Communications at Ball State, came to the build site on behalf of President Jo Ann Gora. The news he carried was a shocker to the Cowan-Brown family.

“If you continue to work and study hard and if you apply and are admitted to Ball State University, we will provide each of you with a scholarship to support the full cost of tuition for in-state students,” Proudfoot told the family. “Working through the Ball State Foundation, we will supplement any state or federal gift aid to cover tuition.”

Proudfoot said a scholarship like this is relatively rare. The idea of giving the Cowan-Brown children scholarships came to Gora from Paul Schwinghammer, president of Hallmark Homes. Proudfoot said once the idea was on the table, it was a matter of Gora and Tom Taylor, vice president for Enrollment, Marketing, and Communications at Ball State, getting together to finalize the details. In a press release, Gora said the scholarships were given with the spirit of Ball State’s philosophy about education.

“The ‘Extreme Makeover’ team worked hard to provide the family with a wonderful, new environment,” Gora said. “The changes they have made to their home will benefit the entire family for many years to come. It is my hope that seeing this transformation will inspire all of the children to work hard toward their goal of attending college.

“Ball State University believes that our approach to higher education — hands on, immersive learning — can also transform lives,” she added. “It is my pleasure, therefore, to offer all of them a special scholarship to Ball State.”

Ryan, the oldest recipient of the scholarship, said he plans on attending Ball State when he’s done with high school. Ryan’s love for soccer lead to his first question about the university: Whether Ball State has a school-sponsored men’s soccer program or if it’s a club sport. He was relieved to find out that there is a men’s club soccer team on campus. Now, all he’ll have to do is follow the advice Proudfoot gave the family after he told them about the scholarships.

“So, can you say ‘Go Cardinals’?” Proudfoot quipped.

Jayson Manship is the director of operations at URBaCS. Along with partner and president Rob Wagoner, they are 50/50 partners of their technology and software company that works with small to mid-size businesses on their Web site, social media, blogging…basically all the online aspect that a company needs today.

URBaCS became involved in the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build when Derek Wilder, CEO of Hallmark Homes, called him and asked him to work on the build as a media liaison. They asked him to put together a social media strategy for Hallmark.

This is not URBaCS’ first build. The duo worked on the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build in Indianapolis along with Estridge, the construction company that worked on the Indy home. When Wilder went to Estridge looking for people that had experience at that build to help in Bunker Hill, they recommended URBaCS. URBaCS had worked with Hallmark before and was willing to join the numerous sponsors that the construction company was recruiting.

Comparing the two builds is hard to do. The Indianapolis site was a two-week season finale build, and the Bunker Hill build was completing a house in only seven days.

“The two builds were completely different,” Manship said. “I didn’t know what to expect the first time around.”

After graduating from a steep learning curve, he said that the second build gave him the opportunity to apply new methods that were not possible before. One major difference was space. The Indianapolis build was done on the outskirts of downtown, where finding a working area was at a priority. Bunker Hill, with the donated field site across the street from where the new Cowan-Brown house was being built, offered the luxury of work space for URBaCS to do their job. The only downside:

“I ended up walking around a lot to find people,” Manship said.

Another luxury of this second build was the direct connection Manship had with the owners of Hallmark. Going into the build he knew that he had more insight into the builder. Also, he knew that he had his teams in place to make sure everything was taken care of as planned.

“Having the ear of the owner made things easier,” he said. “It makes an absolute difference.”

After creating an infrastructure for the build, URBaCS called on the support of Ball State and Anderson students to help generate content for the Twitter account, the blog, etc. [Ed. Note: As a Ball State representative of the media team, I am extremely grateful for all the help that Manship and Wagoner gave us to make our contributions possible].

“[The students] handled all the heavy lifting for us,” Manship said.

Manship said that one of his favorite moments of the build was when Heather Cowan thanked him personally for his contribution. And after spending two weeks of his life working day and night to help build homes for two families, is he ready for another go-around?

“I would be willing to do either one again,” Manship said.

For more information about URBaCS, go to http://www.urbacs.com

Laeufer said that they were originally approached by Winnie Schwinghammer from Hallmark Homes and asked to become a sponsor.

“Our contribution was providing eye care to the family until each child is out of college,” he said.

This equates to 15 years total years of eye care, with a retail value of over $30,000. It includes exams and eyeglasses if the doctor prescribes them.

In addition to the family contribution, Dr. Tavel also gave each volunteer and his/her family a 50% discount on eyeglasses for their hard work and for their great volunteerism, Laeufer said.

Dr. Tavel Optical Group is Indiana’s largest and oldest family eyecare professional group. They have been in business for over 65 years in Indiana, with 19 locations throughout the state (and growing)

Doctors of optometry are in each locations performing eye examinations everyday they are open. Several locations have on-site, same-day lab service.

When asked how an optical group could help build a new home, Mr. Laeufer proudly said,  ”On Thursday, I helped set up the flooring of the spectator tent and VIP tent.”

Thank you Dr. Tavel Optical Group and Mr. Guy Laeufer for your generous contribution to the Cowen-Brown Family. There is no match to the creativity and generosity of our sponsors.

Founded in 1997, Jackson Systems is an award-winning HVAC company specializing in zone control.

Jackson’s company became involved in the build when asked by their client, T.A. Kaiser, to join them in donating to the family. Jackson said that giving back to the community is very important to his company.

“Being involved in the construction industry and our strong commitment to our local community, helping the Cowan[-Brown] family was a natural fit. We know our zone control and indoor air quality products will insure a comfortable and clean home,” he said.

Tom Jackson’s company is another of the many companies who helped make this build a success.

“We were first contacted by architect Kato Smith, who had originally designed the complex of our company building. He couldn’t tell us much except that it was a makeover; [he] never mentioned it was ABC. He did ask if we’d be willing to possibly donate some casual furniture to the makeover. Our answer was a quick, and eager ‘yes.’ Later, we would learn it was an ‘Extreme’ makeover near Peru. We were to be part of something big!”

So, on a cold, soggy Saturday, at 7:30 a.m., the Mermaid Pool team loaded up a borrowed box truck (to protect the furniture) for a one hour trip to their ‘Extreme’ adventure. Upon arrival, they were immediately struck by the magnitude of the situation – and the tremendous energy being put forth. Despite horrendous building conditions – rain, storms, cold, bone-chilling wind- one could not escape the energy of those who were participating. As they waited their turn to deliver the furniture to Heather in ‘Bin City,’ they really felt like they became a part of the build.

“What a thrill for us. Although our donation was just a small piece in this large puzzle, we were so proud to be part of it. We hope the family will prosper from the love of all those whom they will never know. We are grateful for the opportunity to help,” Murr said.

Aaron Williams is the owner of Aaron’s Auction Team, and he ran the auction on Saturday at the Grissom Air Force Base.

Williams said that the auction was a great success, with 292 registered bidders.

“We had a great turnout,” Williams said. “Everyone had a great time.”

He estimates that more than $18,000 were raised in the auction. $5,000 of it came from the pillows that Kori made. Another notable item was the autographed David Cook guitar, which went for $1100.

He became a part of the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build when his friend Paul Schwinghammer, president of Hallmark Homes, asked him to participate. Williams is used to participating in benefit auctions; Aaron’s Auction Team puts on about 15 to 20 such auctions a year, Williams said.

Williams got into auctioneering and was inspired to start his own business by his stepfather, who was an auctioneer for 35 years.

Williams has attended several of the events this week, including the march and Reveal day.

“It’s great when the community comes out to support things like this,” Williams said.

Nena Broniak, owner of Sunset Grill Catering, has been at the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build site for the past four days. Broniak and her crew have spent two days serving food to spectators and volunteers at the Grissom Air Force Base and two at the build site.

“I’ve been involved with charity for 34 years,” Broniak said. “I like to help people that are in need.”

Sunset Grill, which was opened in 2005, has offered a variety of food during their time at the site. They have offered chicken and noodles, Italian beef, sloppy joes, and hot dogs. For today’s Reveal, the menu has been altered slightly. They’re planning to serve barbequed pulled pork, tenderloins, and french fries.

Broniak and her staff have been handing out volumes of food at no cost. Broniak estimates that she has served more than 900 bowls of chicken and noodles, 500 orders of nachos, and 1,000 hot dogs.

Sunset Grill is also collecting donations on site for the Cowan-Brown family. Broniak believes that they will collect more than $1,200 to give to the family by the end of the day.

“It makes me feel complete to help someone in need,” Broniak said. “I love to see the smiles on their faces.”

Broniak is excited to give back to the Cowan-Brown family as she has also been touched by illness in her life. She lost a half-sister to cancer and is also in remission from cancer in her spine that was caught seven years ago.

Broniak first heard about the build when Winnie Schwinghammer, wife of Hallmark Homes president Paul Schwinghammer, came to her site at the Markland Mall in Kokomo to recruit sponsors.

“Winnie and Paul are wonderful Hallmark owners,” Broniak said.

She is excited for the reveal later today and the effort that has been put in by every volunteer this week.

“It’s a well-oiled machine inside. I can’t wait to see the results,” Broniak said. “It’s just amazing. I’m so part to be a part of it.”

“If you can’t swing a hammer, you can feed the one that can,” Pastarrific Chef Cythia Yazdani said.

Yazdani and Pastarrific have been out at the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build since Wednesday with a different dish for the hundreds of volunteers every night.

Like so many people are out there donating their time to help the Cowan-Brown family, Pastarrific has been here not only to help them but help support the community that has supported the company for all these years.

“Kokomo has supported us, so we wanted to support them,” Yazdani said. “Not just giving back to Kokomo but the surrounding areas.”

Yazdani said with the bad weather, there have been some set backs, but she understands that you have to have patience. Pastarrific has worked hard to have a changing menu and to keep the food good and fresh.

“I don’t personally know the family but it doesn’t matter, it’s helping that is important, not who your helping,” Yazdani said.

Chef Yazdani has a deep connection with her community and it’s great to see someone taking some much time and effort aside to help others.

“It’s been smiles the whole time, even in the rain,” Yazdani said.