With the help of Hollywood, a new home is built in Maynard

(Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)

By Keith O’Brien, Globe Staff

MAYNARD – The tiny town of Maynard has supported the Giunta family for nearly two years, ever since a car accident left Paul Giunta, a father of three, unable to walk and unable even to live in his own house due to his bulky wheelchair.

Town residents raised money for the Giuntas, sometimes in donations of thousands of dollars. They made meals for them and kept them in their prayers. But they couldn’t give them what they really needed – a new house. Not until this week. That’s when thousands of local volunteers gathered for a good old-fashioned barn-raising with the help of some modern-day Hollywood magic courtesy of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

This was television. But it was also real life. As the Giuntas drove into sight of their new home today in the back of a black limousine, the thousands of people gathered on their little street in their little town began chanting a simple phrase.

“Bring Paul home.”

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