ABC’s ’Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ to Receive Service to America Leadership Award

-- ’Extreme Makeover’s’ Paige Hemmis to accept Leadership Award;
ThanksUSA to accept NAB Education Foundation’s Guardian Award --

WASHINGTON, DC - The Emmy Award-winning program “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” airing for a 7th season this fall on ABC, will receive the NAB Education Foundation’s (NABEF) Leadership Award, presented during the 11th annual Celebration of Service to America Awards on June 8. The awards ceremony will also feature the presentation of NABEF’s Guardian Award, honoring ThanksUSA founders Kelsi and Rachel Okun for their commitment to supporting the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.

“For six years, the talented team of workers at ’Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ has changed the lives of families in communities throughout the United States,” said NABEF President Marcellus Alexander. “The NAB Education Foundation is proud to present the Leadership Award to such an important community-focused program.”

Considered NABEF’s highest honor, the Leadership Award is presented to those who have improved the lives of others through extraordinary public service. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” has enriched the lives of families since 2003. In addition to building homes and uniting communities nation-wide, the show encourages television viewers to make a difference in the world by supporting various causes featured on each week’s episode.

Accepting the Leadership Award on behalf of “Extreme Makeover” will be Paige Hemmis (designer). In addition to her participation on “Extreme Makeover,” Hemmis is a successful carpenter, entrepreneur, spokesperson and author. Prior to joining the show, Hemmis founded a real estate company, a wedding planning business and Tuff Chix, Inc., an organization dedicated to providing durable and fashionable performance work wear for women. In December 2006, she also released her first book, The Tuff Chix Guide to Easy Home Improvement, inspiring other women to tackle home improvement projects with confidence. In between extreme makeovers Hemmis serves as the spokesperson for Habitat for Humanity and other charities.

ThanksUSA, this year’s Guardian Award recipient, is a non-partisan, charitable organization founded in 2005 by two 8 and 10-year-old sisters. The organization “thanks” the men and women of the United States Armed Forces by providing college, technical and vocational school scholarships for children and spouses of military members serving on active-duty status. In three years, ThanksUSA has awarded more than $5 million to more than 1,750 spouses and children of military members. Scholarship applications are available on ThanksUSA’s Web site, www.thanksusa.org, or by clicking here.

The Celebration of Service to America Awards, recognizing outstanding community service by local broadcasters, will be presented at the Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel.