Dressed in two sweatshirts, jeans and bright yellow work gloves, Gail Snustad devoted her Saturday to some serious home remodeling. Only it wasn't her house that was getting the makeover.

Snustad, 48, was one of 25 volunteers who devoted their Saturday to fixing up a house at 800 Mandan St.

Volunteers performed similar overhauls Saturday on nine other homes in Bismarck and Mandan as part of Rebuilding Together, a national project where volunteers come together to fix up the homes of their elderly, disabled and low-income neighbors.

"It just makes our community better to give somebody something when they have given all their life," Snustad said. "Now we can give back to them."

When Snustad and her fellow volunteers are done, the tree-shaded yellow house they're working on will have a new coat of paint, new windows, a new furnace, a new fence and new windows.

Owner Bertha Stegmeier, 95, said the improvements would be very helpful to her.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so thankful," Stegmeier said. "I can't tell you how much this means to me."

Stegmeier has been in her house for 48 years, when she moved to Bismarck with her husband, who got a job at International Harvester. Stegmeier still maintains an elaborate garden, but home maintenance became more difficult when her husband passed away seven years ago.

Jim Wright, a board member and organizer of Rebuilding Together, said the program is designed for those who most need home repair, but can't do it or pay for it themselves.

"Basically, our primary goal is to make houses safe and warm so people can stay in them longer," Wright said.

Formerly known as Christmas in April, the program changed its name on the national level in 2000. Wright said the local affiliate waited until this year to change the name because Christmas in April was a widely recognized event that attracted many volunteers.

The name was changed to allow communities more flexibility in scheduling their rebuilding days. Many still hold their event on April 28. During last week's event, 270,000 volunteers fixed up 9,100 homes across the U.S., according to a press release from the national Rebuilding Together.

In Bismarck and Mandan, about 300 volunteers contributed their time, Wright said.

One of them was St. Mary's High School senior Jack Glasser, 17, who helped work on a house at 600 3rd St. NW in Mandan. Glasser said this project was an especially helpful and rewarding way to fill a school requirement for volunteer service.

"You actually see the results," he said. "You're actually doing something to make people's lives better."

Specifically, Glasser was helping Marianne Olney, 83, who moved into the house 15 years ago.

The smell of paint wafted through the air and nails clanged as volunteers performed what can only be described as a major overhaul of Olney's small blue house. Their work included a new kitchen floor, new appliances, new gutters and a complete interior repainting.

"We just kind of jumped in and did what needed to be done," said volunteer Kylie Blanchard, 24.

(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli at 223-8482 or jonathan.rivoli@;bismarcktribune.com.)