By Lisa Casinger
  When ABC’s  Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was looking for vendors to help supply products  for the Arena family of Somers, N.Y. they called Levels of Discovery.


Owner Jeff Hutsell not only donated product he also flew to New York to help rebuild the family’s home and put the room together.

“The visit I made to upstate New York to help the Arenas family was one of the most unforgettable experiences of  my life,” Hutsell said. “We were asked to donate some of our firefighter’s  furniture for the two little girls’ room (who said only boys like fire  engines!). I said I would be delighted but asked if I could work on the project  too.”

Hutsell spent three days and nights working with more than 400 volunteers to remove one home and build, furnish and decorate a new one in 7-8 days.

“The entire process is real,” he  said. “They really do all of the work and I was happy to see that Ty and all of  the other on-air talent pitched in. It was truly a work from the heart for all  concerned. Nothing will ever compare to the look on the family’s faces when  they saw their new home.”

The Arena family has six daughters  and lost their only son to an inoperable brain tumor last year shortly after  his sixth birthday. Parents Jim and Gina had spent what little money they had saved over the years on their son Jimboy’s treatments and their small, one-bathroom home needed lots of work so Extreme Makeover stepped in.

Two of the younger daughters wanted  a firefighter/Dalmatian bedroom theme, since their dad was a fireman and Levels of Discovery’s firefighter collection was a perfect choice for the room.

The Arena family’s episode aired on ABC in May.