Builders Care, NEFBA’s charitable arm, will host the premier of The Goodall Family Story, an episode of the Building a Difference TV series, at the Florida Theatre on January 19.
The Goodall family and their extended family members will be at the premiere watching the double feature that tells their inspiring story of a family of eight facing life-and-death struggles, including Lou Gehrig’s disease and leukemia.
Kenny Goodall, a hardworking welder with plans to build his family their dream home, was suddenly diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Builders Care and ICI Homes rallied NEFBA members and the Jacksonville community at large. The result doubled the size of the Goodall’s home in a fast-paced two-week home makeover.
Three days after the family moved into their new home, eldest son Kollin was diagnosed with leukemia. After two relapses and a bone marrow transplant, the doctors could do no more, and Kollin spent the last three months of his life inspiring everyone around him.
“This is the most beautiful story we have ever had a chance to tell,” said Mick Richards of DeepLight Entertainment, who partnered with Builders Care to bring this story to the screen. “It’s the story of an ordinary family facing extraordinary hardships, a community that rises to help them, and the message that underneath the tragedy of suffering, there’s a hidden beauty waiting to be discovered if we are willing to be shown.”
The Florida Theatre premiere is a charity event supporting the efforts of Builders Care, whose mission is to provide safe housing for the area’s most vulnerable citizens. It’s also hoped this story will encourage and help ALS and leukemia patients, families and friends through their own experiences. The full-length story will then broadcast as a series of half-hour episodes to a worldwide TV audience early next year on Building a Difference, produced locally by DeepLight Entertainment.
The two-part film begins at 5 p.m., with an intermission at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale at www.TheGoodallFamilyStory.com.