 future freelancer, entrepreneur, teacher, scientist, and software engineer – to develop skills now and remove other gender barriers she faces, so that she and every girl can join A Skilled GirlForce.KNOXVILLE — Watch ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” on Sunday, Dec. 13, and you’ll see how a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, alumna and her family’s construction company led more than 3,200 volunteers in building a house for a needy family.
What you won’t see is everything that’s happened since.
Anne Maleno (’91, sociology) and her family were so moved by their involvement in the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” project that they’ve found a way to keep on giving even though the TV cameras are long gone.
Maleno is the property manager for Maleno Development, a company founded in 1976 by her father. The company has built more than 1,000 homes and apartments in the Erie, Pa., area.
“There are seven kids in our family, five of whom are involved in the company,” Maleno said.
“My father wanted us to come together as a family and company to have one charity that we donate to. When we decided to take on the ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ project, we knew we wanted to keep giving.
“We’ve created the Maleno Family to Family Fund to continue to help families with housing problems,” she said.
The story began back in the spring of 2009, when Maleno Development first got involved with “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
“My younger sister, who also works with Maleno Development, heard that the TV show wanted to come to Erie to do a project and e-mailed them, saying our company might be interested in helping,” Maleno said.
The TV show contacted the family, asked some questions and the adventure began.
As the lead builders for the TV show’s project in their town, Maleno Development coordinated more than $1 million in donations. They lined up subcontractors willing to donate time and materials. They organized an army of volunteers.
In seven days, the team built a new handicapped-accessible home for a family whose two-story house had a cracked foundation, a leaky roof, peeling walls and a faulty sewage line. The matriarch of the recipient family suffers from myasthenia gravis, a degenerative muscular disease, but still runs a nonprofit youth development and family center from her home.
While the construction was under way, Maleno Development also held a book drive, a food drive and a blood drive.
People involved in the Maleno Family to Family Fund project. They are, in front, Julie Maleno, Pat Fronzaglia, and, in back, John Maleno, Dominic Maleno, Anne Maleno, Jarrod Maleno, and Natalie Washburn.
Collected items were donated to a variety of organizations in the Erie area.
Maleno said her family was overwhelmed by the way their community came together and wanted to keep the spirit of giving alive.
The Malenos launched the Family to Family Fund with the goal of organizing charitable construction projects each year for needy families in the Erie area.
In September, Family to Family did its first project: renovating the home of a 57-year-old widow confined to a wheelchair because of an auto accident. Workers lowered her kitchen sink and rearranged cabinets, provided her with a new front-loading washer and dryer and made her bedroom wheelchair-accessible.
The Malenos already have started taking applications from families who would like to be helped next.
The Maleno family’s charitable work has been featured on numerous TV broadcasts in the Erie area and in a feature story in the Manufacturer and Business Association’s Business Magazine.
For more information about the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” episode, as well as the company and its charitable projects, see.
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Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, amy.blakely@tennessee.edu)A mechanic and a helper. Gene Smith has always been both. He said he learned how to be a mechanic at a young age from his father and friends.
Both of them were self-taught mechanics, he said. It was because of them and friends throughout the years that he was able to learn.
He’s worked as a service manager at three different businesses, including Harley Davidson and Tedder Dodge. And he’s used his talent to help his friends with any mechanical work they need. That’s how he became friends with Ronnie Sewell.
Gene worked as Sewell’s mechanic and the team raced motorcycles and cars on dirt tracks and asphalt.
“He’s always believed in me. He’s helped me in everything I’ve ever done,” said Sewell.
A wall of trophies from their racing days and a line of motorcycles shine brightly in Sewell’s shop on Chatfield Road, where Gene works. After 40 years of racing and friendship, Sewell has a solid faith in Gene's ability as a mechanic.
But in 2012, something came along that Gene couldn’t fix. He was diagnosed with kidney cancer.
The two friends started going to Rock Fitness four days a week. Gene had a tumor on his right kidney, and had surgery the following March.
“We Went to Winston Salem the next Friday and Sunday I was sitting in my house in a recliner,” said Gene.
Since the surgery was performed with robotics, it was less invasive. After that, the chemo started. Gene said they used the best, most active chemo for tumors they found in his stomach, shoulder and back.
These days, Gene is still pushing through. He goes to a pain assessment class to help him stay active and takes oxygen at night.
His wife, Cathy, said they both are grateful to Sewell and his daughter, Miranda Kinmon.
“If it wasn’t for him and his daughter we never would have made it through this,” said Cathy.
Last month, Sewell and Kinmon decided to have a fundraiser for Gene and Cathy, to help them with their medical expenses.
More than 800 people showed up and before the auction began, they had raised $20,000 selling T-shirts and chicken.
Many of Gene’s friends came to the auction, including a man he hadn't seen since high school.
“Gene’s made friends through every walk of life,” Sewell said.
The auction sold more than 100 pieces and Sewell said they went to every chicken place in town looking for enough chicken to feed the crowd.
So far, their fundraising efforts have resulted in $40,000 to help the Smiths with medical expenses.
Looking at Gene, you might never know he has cancer. He still works at Sewell’s shop as the service manager and mechanic. Right now, he’s working on a 1960 Cadillac hot rod and a motorcycle.
“He’s in the middle of building that for me,” Sewell said.
As a man who has helped others throughout his life, Gene shows great gratitude for those who have helped him.
Even though he has cancer, Gene said he feels like he's right where he needs to be.
“I’m so glad that I got blessed," he said. "The good Lord’s just looked after me."
Anyone who wishes to contribute to a fund for the Smiths may address donations to: Gene Smith, P.O. Box 2713, Shelby, NC 28151. All funds will be used with medical bills.
Anyone wishing to buy a t-shirt from the fundraiser can contact Bradley's Screen Printers.In CraneItUp, you need to help a little girl get her favorite toy from a grabbing machine. The machine has a mixture of zombie toys and bear toys – the snag is that she only wants the bear toys, so you’ll have to be accurate with the grabber and choose carefully. You’re against a timer, too, so although you need to be accurate, you also need to be quick. CraneItUp has been beautifully designed by Antpixel and it’s now available unblocked in HTML5. With Gamepix, you can play this fun game for free on any browser or device. Play CraneItUp now on GamePix!name: Notify

on: [push]

jobs:
  notify-push:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v1

      - uses: Brymastr/slack-action@v1
        name: Slack notification
        env:
          SLACK_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
        with:
          template: "./.github/workflows/push.json"

  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v1

      - name: install
        run: npm ci

      - name: test
        run: npm test

      - name: build
        run: npm run build

      - uses: Brymastr/slack-action@v1
        name: Slack notification
        env:
          SLACK_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
        with:
          template: "./.github/workflows/build.json"
          job_status: ${{ job.status }}
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