Rush To The Nations

Write up in the Hawai'i Hearold

‘Extreme Makeover’ recipient to speak


C.J. McPhail will discuss his experience as an “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” recipient at the University of the Nations Kona campus Ohana Court at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The public is welcome.

When the ABC television crew gave the McPhail family the keys to their new home, McPhail made a promise to pay it forward. Now he’s getting the chance. He is in Kona with Rush Behnke, lead builder on the McPhail home, to participate in the Kona Summer Surge, a development initiative of the U of N Kona.

According to Behnke, all U of N staff are volunteers and student tuition costs are based upon the economic situation of the student’s home nation. This allows students from developing and economically challenged nations the opportunity to receive an education. With the rise of student and staff numbers, the university has undertaken a major development initiative — dubbed the Kona Summer Surge — to construct new student dormitories, staff housing, cafeteria/kitchen, culinary school and the Lokahi Transmedia Center. This initiative implements the streamlined and concentrated construction process of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Inspired by the vast number of volunteers that came to help “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build his new home, McPhail stated, “It doesn’t stop there. When you do something that magnificent and that beautiful and that incredible, big things continue to happen.” Furthermore, McPhail explains that he wanted to pay it forward to the University of the Nations because “This is about community. It’s about people that come together for a common cause, and I want to help tell this story.”

This is will be the second time McPhail and his family has paid it forward to the islands. He is the father of two autistic sons, and an active spokesperson for Sparrow Clubs USA. This organization is a youth-based charity, providing financial and emotional support for critically ill children and their families. The organization partners with local schools to empower students to help families of special-needs children through charitable service to their communities. During the filming of the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” episode, McPhail represented Sparrow Clubs USA to inaugurate its first chapter in the state of Hawaii in partnership with Island Pacific Academy in Kapolei, Oahu.

More information about the McPhail family and this volunteer build, and Sparrow Clubs USA can be found at www.konasummersurge.com and www.sparrowclubs.org.