SPRING BREAK IN LOUISIANA HEART HEALTHY STUDENT HELPS RESTORE POST-KATRINA HOMES.

Byline: CAROL ROCK Staff Writer

LAKE CHARLES, La. - Most college students can't wait to relax during spring break, eagerly planning their trips to beaches or mountain areas to unwind and do what they don't have time to do during the school year.

But Shabnam Irilian of Canyon Country, a marketing major at California State University, Long Beach, spent her week on a trip that had nothing to do with relaxation, but everything to do with feeling good.

Irilian and 35 other students from the university traveled to Lake Charles, La., for "alternative spring break" - packing jeans, T-shirts and hard hats for a working vacation to help a region still trying to recover in the wake of last year's Hurricane Katrina.

Through their school's chapter of the American Marketing Association, they created the Gulf States Rebuild Project and partnered with the national nonprofit group Rebuilding Together.

"On Sunday, we got to Cameron Parish, which is in the southwest corner of Louisiana and one of the hardest hit areas," she said in a telephone interview during a work break. "Ninety percent of the community is gone. The next town over, 100 percent of the community is gone. They are about as close to the water as we are in Long Beach. We couldn't believe the destruction.

"In Cameron, there were 90 homes, only four were left standing and only two of those were declared rebuildable," Irilian said. "We worked on cleaning those two homes; a lot of the stuff were things people wanted to take with them but couldn't."

The group dug holes for framing posts, tore off damaged siding, framed a deck and painted the patio of a house belonging to the Nunez family, a couple in their 70s.

On Tuesday, the group moved to Lake Charles, where they were split into two smaller groups, each assigned one house to repair.

The workers lived in a retreat center, where thankful local residents prepared meals and shared their survival stories.

"We're eating better here than we do at home," Irilian said with a laugh.

Her group was working on the home of a single mother with two young daughters whose flood insurance ran out two years ago because she couldn't afford the premiums.

"Her house is devastated," Irilian said. "We've truly developed a relationship with her; she's living in a FEMA trailer and is so thankful that we're here. She hugs us every day.

"At this point (Thursday), we're inside the house and there's nothing but framing. We're racing to put up the drywall and ceiling and plastic around the house in case it rains. You can still see the mark where the water surged. I'm 5-10 and the water line was at my shoulder.

"Everybody here is so appreciative, they want to know what they can do for us. Lake Charles is a very giving community. It will be hard for us to leave."

Irilian read a note, written on a beam in the house by the thankful homeowner: "To my friends from Long Beach, California: Help is always a couple of prayers away. Friends come from everywhere when you need them."

The homeowner asked each student to write something on the studs that would be hidden by the drywall so she would have them surrounding her in the years ahead.

"That was an intense and overwhelming experience," Irilian said. "This has definitely changed our lives. We knew when we were coming out that we could come back different people. Anybody can send money, but to have the first-hand experience, we are so fortunate to have made this happen."

Irilian said a lot of college students expressed interest in helping, but when it came down to committing had other plans or couldn't afford it.

"We know that when the Nunez's family's house is finished, when they're enjoying the color that their patio is painted, that we contributed," said. "Here, I'm literally putting up the walls that they are going to hang pictures of their family on. We cherish the opportunity to give them a chance to return to normalcy."

For more information on the Gulf State Rebuild Project, visit www.myspace.com/gulfrebuild.

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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(color) Students from California State University, Long Beach, who went on an ``alternative spring break'' to help rebuild in post-Katrina Louisiana, took this photo to remember their efforts.