In a commercial airing on HGTV during the month of March, Hal Gustafson of Geneseo stands in front of Central Theater, where the marquee spells out “Change the World” while a voice over tells of Gustafson’s work with Rebuilding Together.
Each month, HGTV officials select an individual whose story exemplifies the spirit of volunteerism and honors them with the Community Crusader Award. Gustafson was selected as the March recipient.
Gustafson, who runs a construction company, has donated his time and construction skills to many of Rebuilding Together’s Geneseo projects for the past 15 years.
“I just think there are a lot of needy people out here in our area, and if we can use our skills to help them out, that’s a good thing,” said Gustafson.
Rebuilding Together’s goal is to bring volunteers and communities together to improves the homes and lives of low-income homeowners.
With 35 years of construction experience, Gustafson has brought his skilled knowledge to Rebuilding Together’s job sites.
“He’s done so much for us,” said Joni Conrad, executive director of Rebuilding Together of Geneseo and Cambridge. “If you bring Hal to a project, you know it will happen, and you know it will get done.”
Gustafson has served as house captain on job sites, including last year’s Heroes at Home site, said Conrad.
“It’s wonderful to have a skilled volunteer like Hal who can organize a job site and take all of the volunteers and make things work,” she said.
While at the Rebuilding Together national convention, Conrad learned the organization wanted names of exceptional volunteers to be submitted as part of a recognition program.
“I had no idea what the program was. They said it had something to do with marketing, and it was going to be a surprise,” said Conrad. “I submitted Hal’s name, because he’s a fabulous candidate and a wonderful volunteer. I thought he was going to have his picture in a brochure or something.”
Instead, as part of its “Change the World, Start at Home” campaign, HGTV is filming commercials featuring local volunteers.
When Conrad learned that Gustafson had been selected, she was the one who got to make the call to him. “He’s a pretty quiet guy, and he’s not looking for accolades, so I think he was pretty stunned when I told him,” she said.
“I didn’t even know they’d nominated me,” said Gustafson.
A photographer came to Geneseo on Feb. 8 to film Gustafson for the commercial. “He said it might take a day and a half, but we managed to get everything done in one day,” said Gustafson.
Rebuilding Together, which started as Christmas in April, has been working locally for the past 15
years. The next work day will be April 24.
“I think it’s a good thing for people to lend a hand and share their skills, and even if you don’t have (construction) skills, you can still be involved. There’s always something to do and some way to help in the community,” said Gustafson.
His HGTV clip can be seen here.
Geneseo, Ill. —
