HUMBOLDT — Sharon Bauer wants to do more than just hand out hammers or serve coffee early Saturday morning.
“I really hope I get to do physical work,” she said. “That’s why I signed up.”
Bauer and fellow Humboldt resident Beverly Headley are headed to Joplin, Mo., where they’ll join about 10,000 others to volunteer their services for “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
The reality TV show is in Joplin as part of a mammoth effort to build seven homes in seven days. The recipients are among the scores of families displaced by the May 22 tornado that killed more than 150.
In keeping with the program’s premise, much of the labor for the project comes from volunteers. All of the materials were donated as well.
Bauer recalled a recent conversation with Headley about offering their help for the TV show after it was announced producers would be in Joplin.
They both sent in volunteer forms via the Internet about a month ago and were informed Monday they would be accepted.
Headley will work Friday morning and afternoon. Bauer’s shift begins at 2 a.m. Saturday.
“Nope, never started a shift at 2 a.m. before,” Bauer said. “That’s something else that will be new to me.”
Despite the odd hours, Bauer expressed an eagerness to participate in the construction, the largest single project undertaken by “Extreme Makeover” producers.
“I shop at Joplin,” Headley said. “It broke my heart to see the devastation.”
The pair are classified as “general” volunteers and not “specialized,” which means they are unsure of what their duties will entail. Both were notified it could be anything from painting to handing out water bottles.
“I really hope I get to do work, but just handing out supplies would be great because I’d get to meet some wonderful people,” Headley said.
Headley will use a vacation day from her job as a pharmacy technician at Humboldt Pharmacy. Bauer, a paraprofessional for ANW Cooperative, will attend a wedding Friday evening before heading to Joplin.
She figures the adrenaline of the day’s events will supercede any potential exhaustion.
“I think everything will go by pretty fast,” Bauer said.
Volunteering for others is old hat for Bauer, who once participated in a 50-mile walk to aid suffers of multiple sclerosis.
“It’s just a feeling that starts at the bottom of your feet and moves up,” Bauer said. “It’s a great feeling.”
AFTER HER shift in Joplin ends Friday evening, Headley will make it as far as Pittsburg, where she’ll stay with her son. Bauer, meanwhile, will stay at her sister’s in Joplin when she’s finished working.
“We really hope to touch base with each other while we’re there,” Headley said. “It should be quite an experience for both of us.”
“EXTREME Makeover: Home Edition” airs Friday evenings on ABC television. The Joplin build is the 200th in the show’s history, producers said. The Joplin project will air later this fall in a special two-hour episode.
