Online Sporting Goods Retailer The Batter’s Box Helps Create Baseball Lover’s Dream Room for Devastated Family on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

After six-year-old Jair Hawkins’ home was destroyed in April by a tornado that left his community devastated and his mother paralyzed, volunteers from his hometown of Hendersonville, TN collected more than 50,000 signatures on a petition to aid his family. The petition was recently responded to by ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, whose designers built and decorated a new, state-of-the-art home for the Hawkins family.

(PRWEB) October 9, 2006 – When an F3 tornado tore across Hendersonville, TN on April 7, 2006, it completely leveled the home shared by six-year-old Jair Hawkins, his younger brother Cole and parents Jerrod and Amy. Following an outpouring of support from their local community and a petition signed by more than 50,000 people from throughout Tennessee and elsewhere, ABC and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition responded with a commitment to rebuild the home. The Extreme Makeover television show designers went to work with the help of donations from across the nation, including a gift of baseball bats, helmets, gloves and baseballs from online sporting goods retailer The Batter’s Box.

When ABC and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition called on us to help this family, we didn't even think twice. We only wanted to know what they needed, where to ship it and what else we could do.

Jair, who is an enthusiastic baseball fan, will have the sporting goods incorporated into the design of his new bedroom with the help of ABC and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The Extreme Makeover television show featuring the Hawkins’ new home premiered Sunday, October 8 at 8 PM eastern on ABC.

The Extreme Makeover television show sent the family on a week-long vacation at Disney World while a team of designers worked around the clock to rebuild the Hawkins family’s home. The new home was built on the same site where the old one once stood, and includes décor and features customized to the interests and lifestyles of the family. It is also fully wheelchair accessible; Amy Hawkins was paralyzed from the waist down due to injuries sustained during the storm as she covered and protected her two young sons.

Karen Karukas, Vice President of The Batter’s Box, was moved and overjoyed about the opportunity to assist the family in need. After being contacted by ABC, she excitedly began gathering up the items that would best accentuate young Jair’s new boyhood dream room. She explains, “When ABC and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition called on us to help this family, we didn't even think twice. We only wanted to know what they needed, where to ship it and what else we could do.”

The Batter’s Box President George Karukas was likewise touched by the family’s plight and the generous response of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. He added, “We want to encourage Jair Hawkins to look to sports, especially baseball, for lessons of teamwork and integrity. Those are the same qualities his mother and father have already shown him by example.”

For a full line of baseball and softball equipment including bats, helmets, gloves, bags, umpire gear and more, please visit aluminumbats.com.

About The Batter’s Box:

The Batter’s Box began in 1983 as a batting range in Surfside Beach, SC, owned by George and Karen Karukas. In 1997, they launched their online sporting good store at aluminumbats.com. The online store features a mix of aluminum, composite and wood bats from a wide range of leading manufacturers, as well as a large assortment of top quality baseball and softball equipment.

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