Though the whirlwind experience of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” has been finished now for about a month, the feelings and memories of that experience are anything but far away for the one local man who was in charge of building the new home for the Dirk and Susan DeVries family.

Al Larson, owner of Larson Contracting, the company that headed up the building efforts, said since the completion of the house he’s had nothing but calls from people who donated their money, labor and materials to the cause. They’ve been thanking him for getting them involved in the process.

“I tried to explain to them if they hadn’t been involved, it wouldn’t have been a reality,” Larson said.

Crews would never have been able to finish the house so smoothly, in less than 100 hours.

He said it is heartwarming for him to have people thanking him for their experiences, when he is the one that needs to thank them for their volunteer time and donations.

Calls and donations are still coming in, he said.

“It was a heart-lifting experience to do something for a family,” he said.

While some people have questioned whether it would have been better to help several families instead of just one, Larson said he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It probably helped a thousand people because they knew they could give,” he said. “I think it probably did more good than anything.

“It’s better to give than to receive,” he added. “It gave so many people a good feeling to be able to give. It taught them that giving is good.”

“Extreme Makeover” wasn’t just an experience where the lives of the DeVries family were changed forever, he said. It was an experience that affected the entire community.

Everyone was thrilled to donate, he said. And while writing out a check for a donation is one thing, actually volunteering your own skills is another.

“That’s what makes everyone feel good as far as the giving end,” he said.

The giving did not come without sacrifice — and Larson said he is still dealing with some of the effects of those sacrifices.

He said he hopes people take the momentum of excitement and giving from the “Extreme Makeover” event and take it out into the community.

“There’s a lot of things you can volunteer for and donate to,” Larson said. “You can see what happens when everyone pulls together. If there’s other worthy causes, step up to the plate and do them because it really makes you feel good.”

Larson said he and his crew had four weeks to design the house, find the materials and line up everything for the week.

When Ty Pennington and his design crew knocked on the doors of the Dirk and Susan DeVries family Sept. 30, everything was already in place.