Cummings Moving Systems, Albany, Ore., an agent for Mayflower Transit, had a secret. Unbeknownst to eight-year-old cancer patient Jenessa Byers and her parents, Cummings employees walked through their home on July 7 to estimate the cost of packing, moving and storing all their belongings.

The estimate was actually part of a secret plan to build the family their dream house on ABC’s hit TV series, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Jenessa, known as “Boey” to her friends, was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare type of childhood cancer, on Jan. 28, 2006. After a year of chemotherapy and radiation, the cancer recently returned, and Boey’s neighbors and community banded together to help out.

“Once we heard of Boey’s fight, we had to do all we could for her and her family,” said Dan Street, vice president of operations at Cummings. “If anyone gets the chance to participate in a project like this, they should.”

After seven Cummings volunteers packed the Byers’ belongings, loaded them into their Mayflower trucks and transported them to their storage facility for 60 days of storage, all free of charge, the community and Extreme Makeover team got to work designing and building a new house for the family where their old one had stood.

Organizers estimated that there were 300 to 400 volunteers each day as the crew worked non-stop, 24 hours a day to complete the home in under a week.
“It’s absolutely amazing to see what can be done when a community, businesses and organizations pull together and accomplish what was done for Boey and the Byers family in such a short time,” Street said.

Through her battle with cancer, Jenessa has been an inspiration for many. She met with Sen. Ron Wyden to ask him to co-sponsor the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act, created YouTube videos about cancer and raised money to buy toys for other sick children at Doernbecher Children's Hospital.

Like it is for Jenessa, helping children has always been important to Cummings Moving Systems.

“All the employees at Cummings have helped through the years raising money or donating time for the Boys and Girls Clubs in the Willamette Valley, or for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital,” Street said. “We have always helped the kids.”

The Byers’ episode of Extreme Makeover:Home Edition aired on ABC on Sunday, Oct. 7.

About Mayflower Transit

Mayflower Transit, founded in 1927, is one of the nation’s oldest and largest van lines and transports household goods, electronic equipment, trade show exhibits and displays, works of art, and specialized freight, utilizing a network of 700 affiliated agents throughout the United States and around the world. Mayflower’s headquarters offices are located in suburban St. Louis, Mo. Further information about the company is available at www.mayflower.com.