(Manchester, Connecticut) -- Today, Bob's Discount Furniture, the fastest growing furniture retailer in the northeast, with stores in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island, announced that it will officially be providing all of the new household furniture for the upcoming episode of the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” television show as it starts to help a Voluntown, Connecticut, family this week.

The “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” team traveled today to Voluntown, Connecticut, to tell the Girard family that they will have a new home in only seven days. After the Girard’s lost their home to a fire a year ago, the family faced a double tragedy when husband Thomas and eldest son Marc tragically drowned in June, leaving Carol and her four children devastated. After the fire, the Girards moved from a tent to a tiny camper then to Carol’s mother’s house, which is almost 40 miles away from where the children go to school. The children sleep scattered throughout the house due to lack of space. Then last June, Thomas took three of his children to a nearby lake for a swim. Unfortunately, he began having breathing problems and his son Marc rushed into the lake to help his father. Tragically, Marc nor his father returned to the shore alive.

“It’s so wonderful to be joining the ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ team in helping to make a better and brighter future for the Girard family. I am looking forward, along with Cathy Poulin and William Newton from Bob’s Discount Furniture, to unloading the truck filled with household furniture that we’re providing for the new Girard home. This effort is actually the first of many future community action programs we are starting to initiate through our new Bob’s Discount Furniture ‘Random Acts Of Kindness Program,” said Bob Kaufman, president, Bob’s Discount Furniture.

As the Girards need help, it is up to Ty Pennington and his designers to build this brave family a new home: a place where they can recover from the immeasurable loss they’ve experienced. While Pennington, his designers, local builder Home Designs by Bruno and hundreds of volunteers and workers are building the family’s home, the Girards will go on vacation to Walt Disney World. The design team for this episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” will feature team leader Ty Pennington and designers Michael Moloney, Paige Hemmis, Ed Sanders and Rib Hillis. The Girard Family house is located at 100 Preston City Road, Voluntown, CT 06384. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” is broadcast on ABC-TV on Sundays at 8 p.m.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," which has won back-to-back Emmy Awards as Best Reality Program (non-competitive), is in its sixth season on ABC-TV. The program is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. Anthony Dominici is the executive producer and David Goldberg is the president of Endemol USA. For more information, visit http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome.

About Bob's Discount Furniture
The fast-growing furniture retailer with 31 stores located throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island, Bob's Discount Furniture has built strong brand awareness and customer loyalty through its unique shopping environment, customer service commitment and everyday low prices. First-time visitors are pleasantly surprised by the comfortable atmosphere and vast selection of quality furniture that surpasses their "discount" expectations. As a part of the overall shopping experience, many of the locations have complimentary cafés featuring gourmet coffee, fresh baked cookies and candy, while other locations offer home theater and video arcade entertainment. Known for their unique style of television and radio advertising, Bob Kaufman, president, and Cathy Poulin, public relations director, have been inviting customers for more than a decade to visit their nearest Bob's Discount Furniture store. For more information, visit www.mybobs.com.

About Bob's Discount Furniture Charitable Foundation
Through the Bob's Discount Furniture Charitable Foundation and its many charitable contributions and sponsorships, Bob Kaufman, Cathy Poulin and all of Bob's Discount Furniture employees support hundreds of nonprofit organizations. Among the many supported charities are Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters, American Cancer Society, March of Dimes, Salvation Army, Marshall House Youth and Family Emergency Shelter, National Conference for Community Justice, American Red Cross and Connecticut Children's Medical Center. In March 2006, Poulin participated in the "Dance for a Cause" competition in Hartford, CT to raise money and awareness for the National Pajama Program and Lil' Iguana's Children's Safety Foundation. Poulin was also awarded Woman of the Year for 2006 by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In April 2008, Kaufman was presented with the prestigious 2008 Biomedical Achievement Award from the American Red Cross as the "Bob Squad" was recognized for collecting over 20,000 units of blood during its 11 years of promoting blood drives. Other recipient organizations include Have a Heart Children's Cancer Society, New York; Open Pantry Community Services, Massachusetts; J. Arthur Trudeau Memorial Center, Rhode Island; Family Intervention Services, New Jersey; Manchester Partners in Health, New Hampshire; and the Opportunity Farm, Maine. For more information about the foundation and Bob's Discount Furniture, visit www.mybobs.com/charity.