SARATOGA -- Until April, Michelle Larkin will be busy.

The town of Saratoga resident is president of the newly-formed Rebuilding Together Saratoga County, a local affiliate of the national housing rehabilitation group Rebuilding Together, formerly known as Christmas in April. Each year, affiliates all over the country plan housing rehabilitation projects for low-income, elderly or disabled residents. Several volunteers then do the work the last weekend in April.

"It's going to be crazy until April," Larkin said. She envisions hundreds of volunteers from the community coming together to help those who are less fortunate.

Larkin, 44, and the 19-person Rebuilding Together Saratoga County board recently picked about six rehabilitation projects for this April. She expects to need about $21,000 for the projects, which will be at sites in Malta, Wilton, Schuylerville, Saratoga Springs and possibly Clifton Park.

The average cost for the projects, which will vary from painting, siding and roofing to repairing ceilings and redoing bathrooms, is between $3,000 and $3,500.

Though she is spearheading the effort, the modest Larkin insists that the weekend only works with the help of her "energetic and compassionate" board.

Larkin said the work will require 200-300 volunteers, who, she joked, "will be fed, of course." And, undoubtedly, her family will be in on the action. She, her husband, Dan, and children, Shane, 13, and Erica, 11, have volunteered together for projects in the past.

Larkin thinks it's important to set an example for the younger generation. She also said working together as a community to provide for those in need is a valuable aspect of service.

"They could be your neighbor," Larkin said. "There is a need out there that we just don't see."

In addition to helping run the rehabilitation program, Larkin also offers her time to coordinate arts and education programming for students in the Schuylerville School District. This involves planning events like theater performances and educational talks to complement the existing curriculum.

For example, next month she hopes to bring "Romeo and Juliet" to the students. She said the programming students get is the result of volunteers' hard work.

"It's over 40 or 50 extra programs the kids get because of this energy," she said.

Energy is exactly what the last weekend in April will call for, as Rebuilding Together Saratoga County debuts at work sites around the county.

Because the group formed in late 2003, it will have had less than a year of preparation for the April projects. Next year, Larkin said, she hopes to raise more money and expand the program to help even more residents.

The planning for April 2005 will begin as soon as this year's round of rehabilitations is over. That means Michelle Larkin will be pretty busy after April, too.