Celebration of humanity

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January 4, 2010

Anonymous The Kokomo Tribune Mon Jan 04, 2010, 11:51 PM EST

THE ISSUE:The Cowan-Brown family episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

OUR VIEW:

11 million Americans will glimpse the giving nature of the people of the Kokomo area.

Eleven million people watched the season premiere of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” this past Sunday, the Nielsen ratings said Monday. So it appears quite a few Americans will glimpse the giving nature of the people of the Kokomo area this weekend.

At 8 p.m. Sunday, “Extreme Makeover” will broadcast the construction of the Cowan-Brown family home. Hundreds of volunteers, led by Anderson-based Hallmark Homes, spent almost a week working shifts upward of 20 hours to finish the house on schedule for the Miami County family. Some slept in mud between shifts.

Around here, sometimes people need the help of others. Sometimes, people are in a position to offer it.

Beginning at age 6, Kori Brown – one of Andy and Heather Cowan’s four children – needed help. She was diagnosed with a blood disorder affecting her immune system. While at the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, she befriended Alyssa Lewandowski of Noblesville. Alyssa was receiving treatment for leukemia.

Kori began raising money to help her friend. She started “Kori’s Cards for a Cure” in 2006, and got children to make greeting cards to sell for the American Cancer Society. She helped auction items for her Relay for Life team in 2007.

Since getting involved with Relay for Life in 2005, Kori has raised more than $35,000 for the American Cancer Society. She is just 12 years old.

To say thank you to a community that toiled in rain and mud to build their family a new home, the Cowan-Browns used the money they would’ve spent on family Christmas gifts and bought presents for needy children.

“There’s nothing that they want or need,” Heather Cowan said about her children. “... Andy and I have huge jobs as parents to be Good Samaritans, to handle this gift well and appropriately.”

Heather and her family will host an open house for the community at 5-7 p.m. Sunday at First Church of the Nazarene, 2734 S. Washington St., Kokomo. You’re invited to stop by and celebrate the humanity of our community.

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