Gary and others from Angel Helpers MN went to Albert Lea to help his brother’s construction company (Larson Contracting – Al Larson) build a new home for the Dirk and Susan DeVries family with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  The home was completed in 106 hours (4 1/2 days), neither rain nor darkness could slow the builders and hundreds of volunteers. Everyone was upbeat and a joy to work with because they felt honored and happy to help a deserving family. On the day of the reveal, cheerleaders from the Minnesota Vikings, University of Minnesota Gophers and Albert Lea High school braved the cold and rain to witness this special occasion. The Gopher marching band played as the Gopher Mascot cheered the crowd on. It rained all day turning the parking lot and walkways into slippery wet mud.  It looked like a Monster truck rally with car wheels spinning resulting in many cars having to be pulled out by all different kinds of construction equipment and tow trucks. I barely made it out myself with my 4-wheel drive jeep - but it cost me my transmission.  All-in-all it was worth it to see the family get their dream home.

All building supplies and labor from Larson Contracting and all the other companies were donated. My brother Al has always given back to the community, so when Extreme Home Makeover called, he said he’d be happy to take on this huge task.  All of the companies involved were extremely generous (giving much more than they were asked for) from food, building supplies, behind the scenes supplies to everything needed for a house. Ask Winnebago for 14 motor homes on loan plus $10,000.

For me and my co-workers we found this to be a very rewarding, once in a lifetime experience.

I’m proud of my older brother Al, who after being injured in Vietnam started a small construction company with only 8 employees in 1977 to one with $30M in sales today.