Local Family Wins Dream House From Regis & Kelly

It was a dream come true for the Garrity family, who were shocked to discover they had been named the winners of "Dream Home" contest, sponsored by the WABC television program Live With Regis & Kelly.

Mackenzie Garrity, a seventh-grader at Frelinghuysen Middle School, wrote a letter for the contest earlier this year, stating that, "I am not writing this letter because we want this house, I am writing because we need this house.”

The family had been living with family and in a shelter provided by since 2008, when their home had gone into foreclosure and the children's parents' marriage ended. Mackenzie is the oldest of the four children for Judith, who has spent much of the last 20 years as a nurse's aide in the area, including time as an aide at Morristown High School. She also has triplet boys, J.J., Ryan and Michael.

The Garrity family was surprised by Regis Philbin, the longtime host of the daytime talk program, who accompanied them on Wednesday in a limousine to their new home, in the Succasunna section of Roxbury Township. Mackenzie's letter was selected among 10,000 entries.

The family had their first night's sleep in their new home on Thursday. On Friday morning, before a second appearance via satelite on the Regis & Kelly program, Judith Garrity said they had "slept like a dream."

Check out full coverage from the Friday event, including full story, photos and video.