Home Makeover Show Helps Voluntown Family
Family Suffered Loss When Father, Son Drowned
The show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is in the state to replace the yellow house belonging to the Girard family, which has suffered its fair share of tragedy.
Their long road over the past year and a half has forced them to overcome a house fire and near foreclosure. Worse yet, a summer tragedy claimed the lives of Thomas Girard and his oldest son, Marc. Thomas’ wife, Carol, was left to raise their four other children.
Thomas became distressed when swimming in a nearby lake. When Marc went in to help, both drowned.
“Family means a lot to us, so I filled it out, printed it out,” said Johanna Kotecki, a family friend. “It was a daunting task, but it was worth it.”
More than 2,700 volunteers are ready to take down the house and build a new one in 106 hours while the Girards take a vacation. Everything that will go into the house will be donated, officials said.