October 24, 2007

"Thank you for making us a part of Jordan's dreams". This is what Extreme Makeover: Home Edition designer Paul DiMeo writes on the orange shirt that bares the logo of "Jordan's Walk". The shirt represents a fundraiser put on each year by the Coffey family who lost their 15-year-old son, Jordan to cancer in 2005. The event raises money to grant the wishes of children through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Wearing a Make-A-Wish tee-shirt himself, Paul stops to hear the story of how Sunday evenings turned into "date nights" for Sharon Coffey and her two boys, Devon and Jordan. "No matter what was going on in the house that day, at 8:00pm everything stopped and we spent an hour together as a family." This is what Sharon wrote in a note that was graciously accepted by the design team today. Sharon says that for so long she has wanted to express to Ty and the team how much they have touched her family's life. But once the show rolled into Manchester, Sharon got her chance.

She recalls memories of watching her son, Jordan become inspired by the show's kindness. Jordan would talk about one day devoting his life to helping others. Shocked that at such a young age, someone could have such an ambition and hold such compassion, Sharon reserves a special place in her heart for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

As he listened to the story, Paul too was touched by Jordan's short, yet meaningful existence. He instantly put the shirt on and took a picture for the family to know that he received the note and was honored to be a part of Jordan's dreams. Along with Paul, designer and host Ty Pennington as well as Michael Moloney and Tanya McOwen signed the "Jordan's Walk" tee-shirt in remembrance of this young boy.

Contributed by Rachel Barker