Joplin rebuilding effort is nothing short of amazing

The devastation that was left in the wake of the May 22 tornado in Joplin was something that was felt around the world. It brought countless volunteers to the city to aid in search and rescue and offer shelter to those who lost everything.

You cannot put into words the amount of effort to rebuild the community that has been displayed, but as journalists, we are faced with just that challenge.

For the past few days more than 10,000 volunteers have been working 24 hours a day to make a new life for seven families. The "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" crew has taken on the challenge of building seven homes in seven days. Most of the volunteers have never met the families, and probably never will, but that has not stopped them from giving up a week of their own lives to help others in need.

One of the things that I find simply amazing about that project is that the seven families that suffered the same fate will now be neighbors.

The second the tornado left Joplin, everyone became neighbors, but these seven families will literally be living next to each other in brand new homes built by complete strangers with nothing but love in their hearts and a hammer in their hands.

ABC's Emmy award-winning show is not the only large-scale reconstruction going on either. Habitat for Humanity is raising the last $25,000 needed for its Ten for Joplin project. Slated to kick off Oct. 29, the project was created with the goal of building 10 new homes in 16 days at an estimated cost of $800,000, of which $775,000 had been raised in cash and in-kind donations as of Thursday.

I was fortunate enough to visit the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" building site Friday morning and was floored by the amount of work that had already been completed. I saw a countless number of those familiar blue T-shirts and not a single volunteer was standing around. Everyone was working.

I lived in Franklin, Kan. when the tornado went through in May 2003 and I know first hand the damage that tornado caused, much of which has yet to be recovered from.

The recovery process is long, difficult and even hopeless at times, but one thing I can tell from being in Joplin is that hope is not gone.

As I was traveling through the devastated area en route to the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" construction site, I saw what I would say is nothing short of inspirational. While most of the world has moved on in the last five months, Joplin's reconstruction is going strong. The President has come and gone, the TV cameras and global news stations have left, but the hope still burns.

After the media frenzy left the area to get to the next big story, the neighbors still stood and stood strong. Literally across the street from the filming of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition's 200th episode, there were handfuls of men working to clean up lots and rebuild homes.

They weren't doing it for the ratings or the fame. They were rebuilding a home. Long after the film crews leave following the big reveal on Wednesday, those men will still be there working away rebuilding their home and their community one nail at a time.

The rebuilding process will take a long time and Joplin will never be the same. As an outsider, one who does not live in Joplin, I am inspired by the community members' determination to not let the tornado win.

For more information on the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition project in Joplin visit http://www.joinextreme.com/joplin. For information on the Ten for Joplin project, visit www.tenforjoplin.org.