TV's Ty Pennington visits with Flagler Enactus

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Ty Pennington with the Enactus team

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL (03/06/2013)(readMedia)-- Ty Pennington, best known as the Emmy-award winning host of "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" and the co-Host of ABC Daytime's "The Revolution," visited Flagler College on March 4 to tour the campus and chat up some of Flagler's Enactus team.

Pennington, who was in town with the Jacksonville Home and Patio Show, talked to Enactus members about their recent projects, most notably Containers for a Cause, a project to recycle shipping containers and rebuild them into affordable housing.

Their first converted container was donated in 2011 to a quadriplegic man who lives in Hastings.

"I met with staff and (Enactus) students about teaming up on a building project that uses shipping containers to help the community and homeless. I was seriously impressed," wrote Pennington on his website. "They're positive leaders, creative volunteers and really know the meaning of teamwork when it comes to helping others."

Enactus member Shelby Ptacek said the meeting was more a brainstorming session about how the team could work with the famous carpenter and home design expert.

"We learned that Flagler Enactus and Ty Pennington share the same passion and vision for helping the community and empowering those in need," said Ptacek. "The overall meeting was very exciting for our team as well as the campus."

Pennington also was excited about what he took from the meeting.

"I thought the recent trend of redesigning shipping containers into small hotels or mobile homes was cool to begin with, but the students have made it even better," he wrote.

Enactus is the new name of Students in Free Enterprise, the world's best-known and most successful program helping university students to create community empowerment projects.

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Flagler College is an independent, four-year, comprehensive baccalaureate college located in St. Augustine, Fla. The college offers 24 majors, 29 minors and two pre-professional programs, the largest majors being business, education and communication. Small by intent, Flagler College has an enrollment of about 2,500 students, as well as a satellite campus at Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, Fla. U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review regularly feature Flagler as a college that offers quality education at a relatively low cost; tuition is $23,690, including room and board. A relatively young institution (founded in 1968), Flagler College is also noted for the historic beauty of its campus. The main building is Ponce de Leon Hall, built in 1887 as a luxury resort by Henry Flagler, who co-founded the Standard Oil Company with John D. Rockefeller. For more on Flagler College, visit www.flagler.edu.