NATCHEZ &8212; Friends at work became partners in service Saturday, when they shed hospital titles and tools for shovels, saws and hammers.

Fourteen volunteers from Natchez Community Hospital gave up a large part of their weekend to join other Habitat for Humanity volunteers at the house now under construction on Smith Street.

Tim Trottier, hospital CEO, said he was pleased at the response to an invitation that went out to hospital employees to help at the Habitat house.

&8220;It amazed me that from two e-mails so much talent showed up,&8221; he said. But, after all, &8220;it&8217;s for one of our family, Eva Givens, an admitting clerk. It&8217;s her house.&8221;

The cheerful group, dressed in jeans and work shoes by then caked in mud, gathered outside the house to talk about the experience as their workday neared its end.

For some, it was the first time to work on a house. They had helped to install the wrap on the outside of the frame building as one of their tasks.

Duncan McFarlane, a Habitat officer and supervisor, was impressed. &8220;We normally have five people on Saturday. With 14, it&8217;s like working three more Saturdays, and they did in two hours what we expect to do in four.&8221;

The Givens house will be ninth for the Natchez chapter. &8220;Since 1993, we have built nine homes,&8221; McFarlane said. &8220;For this one, we look for a mid-summer completion.&8221;

Kim Kaiser, one of the Community Hospital volunteers, also serves on the Habitat board of directors. &8220;I started on the board a year ago,&8221; she said. &8220;It&8217;s a very worthwhile cause, and you really feel you&8217;re accomplishing something. It&8217;s marvelous to watch a house go up.&8221;

Trottier said he expects an even bigger turnout from hospital employees on their next volunteer day.

&8220;Now we can better match skills to tasks.&8221;

Other Saturday volunteers from Community Hospital were Clyde Hadley, Colin Kemp, Roy Rushing, Gail Rushing, Deborah Mizell, Glenn Mizell, Deborah Turner, Sarah Eidt, Jason Lynch, Wanda Frye and Kay Jenkins. Givens worked until time for her shift to begin at the hospital.

McFarlane said the house is 30 days ahead of schedule, &8220;partly due to the weather and partly due to groups like these. When we get to the sheetrock and painting, we&8217;ll bring them back.&8221;

Habitat received good news earlier in the month when Mary Flach, manager of the Natchez McRae&8217;s store, now owned by Belk, announced that the new storeowners will continue the tradition of support for Habitat for Humanity.

&8220;They have agreed to hold the third annual &8216;Our Heart is in the Home&8217; event that we began locally as Natchez McRae&8217;s,&8221; Flach said in announcing the news.

&8220;This event will coincide with our re-grand opening in early March as Belk&8217;s.&8221;

The event has collected up to $22,000 for the local Habitat for Humanity chapter. Flach said her goal for 2006 is $25,000.

&8220;Mary is a board member of Habitat,&8221; McFarlane said. &8220;This sale benefits only Habitat. Materials for one Habitat house are about $40,000.&8221;

The Belk fundraiser therefore will provide perhaps half of the cost of those materials, McFarlane said.

&8220;We raise outside that contribution about $10,000. We could not maintain this pace of one house a year without the help of Mary Flach.&8221;

The Natchez Habitat chapter is affiliated with Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian housing organization that builds simple, decent, affordable houses in partnership with those who lack adequate shelter.

Since 1976, Habitat has built more than 175,000 houses, providing shelter for nearly 900,000 people worldwide.

Today at work in 100 countries, the agency builds a house every 26 minutes. By the end of 2005, Habitat houses were homes to 1 million people.

Habitat for Humanity home owners pay through their service, assisting in the construction of their own home, referred to as &8220;sweat equity,&8221; and then pay a no-profit, zero-interest mortgage.

The Natchez chapter always appreciates donations, McFarlane said.

Anyone wishing to contribute may mail the donation to Habitat for Humanity, P.O. Box 100, Natchez, MS 39121.