RSC Equipment Rental, Scottsdale, Ariz., played a key role in an upcoming episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” an Emmy-nominated ABC television series.
RSC provided numerous pieces of machinery, vehicles, lights, generators and 300 hardhats for a demolition and rebuilding project portrayed in a show that is schedule to air on Sunday, May 15.
The project portrayed on the episode took place in Kansas City, Mo., and involved demolishing one home and building another in its place in just seven days.
RSC Equipment Rental virtually joined the crew of the show for the Kansas City project, as the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (EMHE) entourage descended on East 79th Street in Kansas City to the home of Stephen Johnson, considered a local hero
In 2004, Johnson was one of six firefighters who risked their lives to save a paramedic who had been shot during a fire rescue mission. Additionally, Johnson is a single father of five, two of who are neighbor boys he adopted when their mother died. “They needed a home,” he said humbly. “My kids came to me and said, ‘Dad, isn’t there something we could do?’”
The blended family had been squeezed into a 1,200-square-foot ranch house, where three of the boys slept in the basement.
When word reached the Kansas City construction community that “Extreme Makeover” had selected the Johnson home, it generated an avalanche of responses from local businesses, corporations and individuals offering to contribute.
“Support from the community has been overwhelming,” says Kevin Green, president of Kevin Green Homes in Parkville, Mo., the project’s general contractor. “Everything from the nails to the grass to every drop of sweat has been donated.”
One of the major contributors was RSC Equipment Rental. A company news release reports that “staff at RSC’s Kansas City store were honored to be involved, and gladly went great distances, literally, to provide the exact equipment needed: Machinery had to be specially shipped in from Arkansas and Liberal, Kansas — over 400 miles away.
Not counting donated labor, RSC’s expenses to “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” were about $19,000. RSC was involved at the project’s earliest stages, after being approached by contractor Green, who is a loyal RSC customer.
“We became their on-site problem solver, before and during construction,” says RSC District Manager Larry Reeves. “It was wonderful to see everyone working together, pumped up and motivated.”
“The community really pulled together,” adds Dan Doak, an outside sales representative at RSC’s Kansas City store. “It was great doing this for the firefighters.”
When the project was complete, the Johnson family moved into its new home — roughly four times the size of the one it replaced — and also learned that college scholarships had been established for the children. Contributions and other offers continue to pour in.
“I would donate equipment and time for an event of this caliber any day,” added RSC’s Doak. “I’m very proud to be a part of an organization that would allow us to participate in such a worthy cause.”