Goldstar Cleaning Services took over George Toressani’s home on November 13 to give it a very thorough, and completely free, cleaning. Toressani and his family were chosen by votes from the community as the lucky winners of Goldstar’s Extreme Makeover cleaning contest.
The company accepted nominations from Elk Valley residents throughout the month of October in their hunt for a home that could use a helping hand. While they received many different suggestions, owner of Goldstar Cleaning, Jill Barclay, said Toressani’s family were the clear winners.
“We received a few nominations for the family and George specifically had several nominations,” commented Barclay. “In reading through them, they each expressed something different, but one of the main things that came through was that he was managing the home as they were dealing with their daughter’s cancer. So just working to balance his work, caring for their other child and their home, and of course everything going on outside of that with his wife and daughter in Vancouver.”
Toressani’s step-daughter, Brooke Malakoff, has been back and forth between Fernie and Vancouver for treatment since last spring. She’ll be returning home, along with her mother, in a couple of weeks.
“As a company we recognise that cleaning does take up time for people to do, and it does take up a lot of energy,” Barclay said. “We thought by choosing their family, eliminating some of that stuff, it would give them more time to spend together when they are all home together in Fernie.”
The contest was not only a way to give back to the community, but an outlet to bring the Goldstar Cleaning staff together. “We also used it as sort of a team event for us,” explained Barclay. “A lot of the time our employees are working by themselves, or just with one other employee. It was nice to have everyone together and then sort of strategically plan out how to attack the tasks in the home.”
Nine employees worked together to give the house a top to bottom clean, including steam cleaning the carpets and washing the exterior windows. After logging a combined total of 27 labour hours, the four bedroom, two bathroom house was sparkling.
“George managed to come back on his lunch hour to meet the crew and see what was going on,” Barclay said. “I think he was really happy.”
This was Goldstar’s first ever cleaning contest and a second one is already in the works for next year.