Marine Corps veteran surprised by volunteers' home renovation


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AMERICAN FORK — Volunteers told Kenneth Toone they were going to build him a "man cave" by sound-proofing the walls of a room in his home.

Instead, the U.S. Marine Corps veteran came home Thursday to what he deemed a "completely new house."

Volunteers from Utah nonprofit Heart 2 Home seized the opportunity to completely remodel Toone's 1960s-era home, said Greg Adamson, the organization's president.

After getting permission from Toone's wife, Heart 2 Home rounded up more than 300 community and local business volunteers who chipped in time, money and materials to give the home a makeover, Adamson said.

Volunteers painted the walls, installed new carpet and kitchen flooring. They redid the landscaping and constructed a fire pit and patio — all in less than a week while Toone was on a trip to New York.

Donors gave the family a new flagpole, fridge and furnace. In the coming weeks, new windows will be installed, Adamson said.

"This guy thinks he's coming home to one room finished so he can get out of the world because he is suffering from problems he had in the war, and now he can have a whole house done," said Keith Hall, commander of the American Legion Post in American Fork. "What an awesome surprise for a guy who really deserves it for protecting our freedoms."

More than 100 people waited at the house for Toone and his family to come home Thursday. Upon arrival, Heart 2 Home briefly explained the renovations. Afterward, the legion post presented the colors, using a newly donated American flag and flagpole.

Ravell Call/Deseret News
Ravell Call/Deseret News

"It doesn't even look like the same house on the outside or inside," Toone said. "They did a really fantastic job."

Toone's stepchildren, Alyssa Black, 15, and Caleb Black, 14, were impressed as they walked through the house for the first time after the renovation, saying "wow" and "this is so cool."

Eponine Black, 18, the oldest of the siblings, said it is weird to see her childhood home look so different, but that it "looks too good to even be sad about it."

Toone moved into the home about a year ago when he married her mother, Eponine Black said, and it might have been hard for Toone to come into a home that was already being occupied.

"I feel like he's going to feel a lot more comfortable in the house now, like he's going to feel like it's his house, and he's at home there, so I am happy," she said. "It was already all decorated when he came, so now it is all decorated just for him."

Hall said he and the community were grateful for the opportunity to serve Toone.

"This guy served in the military, and that's why we are all here today — to honor him," he said. "Because of those guys, we have the freedoms we enjoy today."


Tori Jorgensen is a Deseret News intern and current communications major at Southern Utah University. Find her on Twitter @TORIAjorgensen Email: vjorgensen@deseretnews.com

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