“Extreme Home Makeover” Crew and Volunteers

Kansas City, MO (April 10, 2007) –- More than 500 exhausted Extreme Home Makeover crew members and volunteers had a chance to relax and seek relief for sore muscles thanks to students and instructors from the Massage Therapy Training Institute.  Approximately 40 students and 10 instructors from the area’s oldest and most respected massage therapy training program volunteered to provide chair massages in March as ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover built a home for the Jesus Jacobo family.

“This was the second time that we’ve performed this service for an Extreme Home Makeover,” says Don Farquharson, president of the Massage Therapy Training Institute. “We were pleased to be asked to provide services again and support the many volunteers working to make another local family’s dream come true.”

Massage Therapy Training Institute students and staff worked at the site every day for the entire week. Several days, they worked past 10 p.m. despite the cold temperatures. The Massage Therapy Training Institute volunteers brought their own massage chairs to use as they provided relief for stressed and tired workers.  "Wednesday through Saturday, when they were at the height of rebuilding, were the busiest,” says instructor Arlene Williams, LMT, NCTMB, who was in charge of scheduling the massage school’s volunteers. Williams also called upon several friends who are chiropractors to provide services.

Williams was one of the lucky volunteers selected to carry furniture into the home, providing her with a quick sneak peek before the program airs in mid-May. She also was present when the Jacobo family saw their new home for the first time.  Williams said the experience was moving and that she and the others from the Massage Therapy Training Institute appreciated the opportunity to provide massage for both for the show’s cast and crew as well as the hard-working, devoted local volunteers who provided labor to build the home.

Massage reduces mental stress leading to a calmer mind, increased mental clarity, and reduced level of anxiety. On a physical level, massage has been proven to reduce stress, reduce blood pressure, increase joint flexibility and range of motion, relieve tension-related and eye-strain headaches, improve circulation of both blood and lymph fluids, and much more.

The Massage Therapy Training Institute, 9140 Ward Parkway, is the area’s oldest and most respected massage training program. The 18-year-old school, which places graduates in positions in hospitals, doctors' offices, spas and individual practices, also has a second campus in Topeka. Focused on providing a premiere curriculum taught by outstanding instructors, the Massage Therapy Training Institute is renowned within its profession for incorporating a basic wellness curriculum into its 600-hour program.