VIDALIA, La. — When a Vidalia area family’s house burned Feb. 5, a group of volunteers sprung into action — not with hammers and nails, but spaghetti and meatballs.

&uot;We’ve been making meatballs since last Sunday,&uot; said Corinne Randazzo, one of several volunteers from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church helping to organize a spaghetti dinner to benefit Jimmy Don and Susan Windham and their five children.

Sales of tickets for the dinner, which will be from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the church, had to be halted Wednesday afternoon so the crew would know how much spaghetti to make. As of Wednesday night’s count, volunteers had sold about 350 tickets at $4 each.

In this effort, everyone had a role. Randazzo and Wunky Martin, with the help of Concordia Parish Sheriff Randy Maxwell, have taken the lead in cooking the spaghetti. Patricia Lane and Bridget Martin have organized the ticket sales.

But the entire Miss-Lou has pulled together to lend their support. Some people have taken dozens of tickets to sell. Businesses and individuals alike have donated food and supplies for the dinner, and people have also donated their time to help prepare the food and take tickets at the door.

&uot;We’ve had people bring so many pounds of deer meat from their freezer and ask if we can use it, and we say yes,&uot; Lane said.

The Rev. Paul Kunnumpuram has set up an account for the Windhams at Concordia Bank.

&uot;What people have done for us — even people I don’t know — has just been amazing,&uot; said Susan Windham. &uot;This has turned out to be one of the most wonderful, loving experiences of my life.&uot;