"Makeover" local episode to raise cash for Hopelink

To benefit Hopelink, an Eastside social-services agency, Kirkland Performance Center next month will present a benefit viewing of ABC Television's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" — the episode showing the house built for Connie Chapin of Kirkland and her family.

Chapin is a former Hopelink client. A single mother of four, she was surprised by a television camera crew knocking on her door in late September. She and her family were sent on a Florida vacation while her 1928 house near Interstate 405 was demolished and replaced with a 3,500-square-foot Craftsman-style home built by volunteers and the Building Industry Association of Washington.

A crowd of more than 1,000 people watched the Chapins arrive on Oct. 4 for their first look at their new house.

As part of the agreement with the "Extreme Makeover" producers, Chapin has been unable to give tours until the episode featuring her house airs.

The showing will be at 8 p.m. Dec. 16, the same day the program airs on TV, and proceeds from the tickets — $15 for adults and $10 for children — will be donated to Hopelink.

To order tickets for the television screening, go to www.kpcenter.org or call 425-893-9900. Doors will open at 7 p.m. Chapin and her family will be available for a question-and-answer session after the show.

Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com