Hey it’s Brian (aka BB)… Wanted to let you know we have a definite date for the airing of the EMHE episode featuring Zoe and the Simpsons!

Also City Church Savannah, Ronald McDonald House Charities ® (RMHC®) of the Coastal Empire, and the Simpson Family will share the house and share the night to celebrate the Extreme Makeover Home Edition Premiere! Here is the press release from the Ronald McDonald House:

JANUARY 4, 2011 – SAVANNAH, GA – Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of the Coastal Empire and Jim and Carmen Simpson, recipients of the Extreme Makeover home in Savannah, will host a weekend-long celebration prior to the premiere of the ABC Extreme Makeover Home Edition show airing Sunday, January 16th, 2011.  The weekend will include a Behind the Scenes exclusive cocktail party and private tour of the Simpson home, 47 East 55th St., on Saturday, January 15th and a VIP reception at City Church, 125 MLK Blvd., before the premiere of the ABC Extreme Makeover Home Edition show at the Trustees Theatre on Sunday, January 16th.  Proceeds from all the events will benefit RMHC.

The Simpson family resided at the Savannah Ronald McDonald House® in 2008 when their son Zoe was born prematurely. The Ronald McDonald House enabled the family to be close to their son while he was being treated at Memorial University Medical Center, and also allowed their family including their other two children, Isaac (9) and Katelyn (4), to stay together.  In early 2010, the Simpsons moved to Savannah to be closer to the regular therapy and medical attention that Zoe required. They also launched the City Church.

The family never lost sight of what the Ronald McDonald House afforded them during their time of need.  The Simpson family frequently attended speaking engagements and spearheaded special events to raise money and awareness for the charity. In addition, the family and their church, regularly prepared meals at the House for families in residence.   Upon relocating, they realized that an overwhelming amount of renovation was needed in their new home in order to create a healthy environment for their children, especially Zoe.  This prompted their application to Extreme Makeover Home Edition.  During their application process, the family named Ronald McDonald House Charities as their charity of choice.

“It has been an honor to be a part of the Simpson Family’s journey. We were thrilled to have been a part of the entire Extreme Makeover week and to have participated in the volunteer efforts to make the Simpson’s new home a reality. We are very grateful to the Simpson family and their willingness to raise money and awareness for Ronald McDonald House Charities during the celebration of the premiere, and we are thankful for the continued support from the community to make these special events happen,” said Nikole Layton, Executive Director of RMHC Coastal Empire.

Tickets for the Behind the Scenes cocktail and tour are limited to 150 people.  For more information contact Mindy Nash, 912-350-7641, mindy@rmhccoastalempire.org.  Tickets for the VIP Reception are $65.00 and include transportation to and preferred seating during the ABC Extreme Makeover premiere.  Admission to the premiere is $10.00 for adults and $3.00 for children 12 & under.  To purchase tickets visitwww.rmhccoastalempire.org and click on the Extreme Weekend registration icon.

For more information on the Simpson family and their Extreme Makeover Home Edition experience CLICK HERE

From Carmen:

This is Zoe pre-surgery, bored and waiting for the doctor.  They gave him a trendy surgical hat, it may prove the be the new Christmas rage.  We appreciate everyone’s prayers.  Will update post-surgery!

Written/Posted by Brian Buchanan:

The Simpson family was honored this past week to be a part of Savannah’s Christmas parade! They can’t say thank you enough to the businesses and individuals who have blessed their family with everything the past few weeks.

All the donations and blessings have just fueled Jim and Carmen to want to give back more! Their new motto is “With a great house comes a great responsibility” and that responsibility is to help others as much as possible.

Here are 2 ways you can help out:

1- Donate items to or shop at the community wide yard sale this saturday! You can read the details on the sale HERE

2- Join Jim and his family as they travel throughout Georgia and the US in January telling Zoe’s story, sharing details of their experience onExtreme Makeover Home Edition, and sharing their vision for how they can impact Savannah and the world!

The tentative Georgia cities in the tour are Savannah, Metter, Hazlehurst, Baxley, Valdosta, Tifton, Waycross, and Douglas

Other tentative cities across the US include Cleveland TN, Birmingham AL, Springfield MO, Kansas City MO, Dayton OH, Ocala FL, St. Louis MO, and Jacksonville FL.

If you live near any of these cities please check PrayForZoe.com often over the next few weeks as we announce details (when and where) and please let us know if you want to be involved in hosting/planning an event in one of these cities or in any other city.

You can contact me (Brian Buchanan) at Brian@PrayForZoe.com or call me at 912-856-6262

Update from Brian Buchanan:

One of the things on Jim and Carmen’s wishlist for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was to set up a discretionary fund to help people in need.

Recently we heard of a family in our city in need and we want to bless the stockings off of them and get this fund going so we can help with future needs we hear about. To do this the Simpson family has decided to sell all of their stuff from their old house in a yard sale. They are asking other families, businesses, and people to donate their old (but usable) items to the sale and for people looking for great deals to come make purchases!

The sale will be on December 11th from 8am until ??? at 507 E Montgomery Crossroads (Beach/Nationwide Insurance). You can drop off items at that location any time between now and Saturday the 11th.

You can make direct monetary donations to the fund by mailing a check made out to “City Church Savannah” to 125 MLK Jr. Blvd Savannah GA 31401 and writing “Wishlist Fund” on the memo line. All monetary donations are tax deductible.

If you have any questions about this project please contact Brian Buchanan at Brian@CityChurchSavannah.com or 912-856-6262

Well it’s been one week in the new house and honestly it is just as amazing today as it was when the bus moved. This has truly been a season of great “Thanks Giving.” We want to take a moment and thank everyone who was involved in the process. With so many sacrificing it will be hard to let them all know how thankful we are. We have been able to talk to so many great people who have driven by the house to see it. It’s so neat to watch the constant passing of vehicles filled with people both curious and proud of the city’s accomplishment. I got up with Isaac on Black Friday and went shopping and was stopped by several people at 4 AM who recognized us and shared stories of working on the house. It’s just amazing to be a part of this.

Today we will be getting back into somewhat of a normal routine with work and school. Everyday is so exciting and jam packed between the business and the church. We’ve had several people stop and ask us about both the business and church. To sum it up the business is Shift Creative and we do Pro Audio Video installations primarily in churches and non-profits as well as home theatre installs residentially. We started the company to pay the bills and get us to Savannah. It currently supports a total of four families, although admittedly no-one is getting rich. All four families supported by the company also serve in some form of leadership at the church we are starting. The church is City Church Savannah and is located next to Carlitos on MLK directly across from the court house. Our big official launch is Feb. 6 although we have been having services for three months. It’s a great location and has a very good feel. Right now we are trying to get families involved as we already have a thriving college group.

Isaac, Katelyn, and Zoe are doing great and loving the new rooms. As you will see when the show airs, their rooms are just absolutely over the top. Zoe was blessed with so much needed medical equipment which he is already making use of. Today in church he was in a special walker that gives him the muscle support he needs. He just moves all over the place. It’s so exciting to watch him change everyday whether it’s increased mobility, a new word, or clearer communication. Of course Isaac and Katelyn play such a huge role in his life by daily encouraging and playing with him. I know he looks up to them and they really do set a great example.

Thanks again for everything.

Jim

It’s 1 AM and we are just getting the kids to sleep after seeing the house.  There are still many days of interviews and events ahead of us, but tomorrow we get to stay in our new home.  I don’t want to say too much, because after all it will be on ABC in about 8 weeks, but it’s obvious our lives will never be the same.  Zoe has received many of the tools he was so desperately needing to advance.  While this was so momentous for the entire family it all birthed from his need, which has been met.  We feel so blessed to live in this great nation and are so touched by the great city of Savannah.  We will post much more in the days to come so please check back often.

The Simpson Family

Update from Brian Buchanan:

What a crazy week it’s been! It seems like just yesterday I was sitting down to have breakfast with the Simpson’s at The Lady and Sons and now we are a little more than 24 hours away from the big “MOVE THAT BUS” reveal!

I wanted to let you know that The Ronald McDonald House of the Coastal Empire has launched a campaign to raise money in honor of the Simpson family. The money will go to help the house to continue to provide housing, love, and hope to the families that walk through their doors.

You can read more about that campaign and see a complete list of what the house needs donated by clicking HERE

Thanks again for your support of the Simpson family and the Ronald McDonald House! Don’t forget to come out tomorrow for the big reveal! You can get more information on the reveal by clicking HERE

Update from Brian Buchanan:

Just got back from seeing Jim and Carmen at their house. They are wrapping up filming interviews and getting ready to head out on vacation. This morning they were surprised by Ty Pennington and the crew at Lady and Sons while eating breakfast with volunteers from the Ronald McDonald House! Paula Deen joined Ty and the crew and they all were amazing people to meet and be around.

While Jim and Carmen are on vacation I’ll be posting pictures and short updates on here. For in-depth coverage of the build check out the local ABC station and their coverage of the event. Their website is TheCoastalSource.com . Also the Extreme Makeover producers and the construction team will be posting updates at ExtremeMakeoverSavannah.com

Check out our links section for more information on the church Jim pastors, the business he owns, or The Ronald McDonald House.

After seeing and interacting with the Simpsons off and on throughout the day I can tell you that they are truly blown away by the generosity and love that this city is showing their family. Thank you so much for impacting them and impacting everyone who is lucky enough to know them!

Media are invited to contact me at 912-856-6262 or brian@citychurchsavannah.com if you are interested in scheduling interviews with any of the Simpson’s family and/or friends during the build

Today we are cooking at the Ronald McDonald House for families staying here.  We try to do this for them regularly because of all they did for our family while Zoe was sick.  Tonight though Zoe couldn’t make it because he is still not feeling well.  However City Church showed up and we are having a blast.  It feels so good to serve.  Zoe is doing better and should be fine in another day or two.  He is such a trooper.

Ok, we are sitting in Memorial hospital with Zoe.  He is really doing great, but has gotten a little virus and his breathing has become labored.  Last year we were here twice fighting pneumonia and are gearing up for another year.

Zoe is two years old and the greatest blessing to our family.  We have moved to Savannah near the hospital to get him as close as possible to his doctors and therapists.  He stood for the first time a few weeks ago.  We hope to soon be able to get him some specialized equipment that will help him start walking.  It’s been so amazing to see what God has done through Zoe.