NATCHEZ &8212; Lending a helping hand does not get much better than what a group from Pocatello, Idaho, will do in Natchez in early June.

Members of the well-known praise band &8220;As One&8221; will work a full week as carpenters, roofers and electricians at the former AB Motor Company building, converting a portion of it into a permanent food bank to be run under the auspices of the Natchez-Area Ministerial Alliance.

Then on Friday evening, June 9, the group will perform in a free concert to raise funds for further renovation of the building and for Hurricane Katrina relief.

&8220;This band has played with Rebecca St. James, a well-known contemporary Christian music singer,&8221; said the Rev. Bo Swilley, associate pastor at Community Chapel Church of God.

The concert, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., is at the Natchez City Auditorium. &8220;It&8217;s free, but a love offering for hurricane relief and the food bank will be taken,&8221; Swilley said. &8220;What I like to say about a love offering is that if you have a lot, give a lot; if you have little, give little; if you have nothing, give nothing.&8221;

The concert also will feature The Harrigills, a local family singing group who are well-known in Christian music circles; and the New Hope Gospel Choir.

Swilley, who is coordinating the AB Motor renovation, said 21 people from the Gate City Christian Church in Pocatello will come for the week of work, including the band members.

&8220;This is something they decided to take on because the son of the band&8217;s leader told stories about what was going on in Natchez after the hurricane,&8221; Swilley said.

James Humphries and Swilley&8217;s son, Brent Swilley, played football together at Belhaven. Humphries came to Natchez in the days after the hurricane.

Another working group will come from Indiana beginning on June 7 to help at the food bank and elsewhere around town, Swilley said. The first group will number 40; the next week, another 35 will come; and the third week, 10 more will come to work.

Swilley is looking for church groups who want to prepare a meal for the workers. He has a calendar ready to fill for breakfast, lunch or dinner. &8220;People can call me and I can give them a day. They can do whatever meal they want,&8221; he said.

Swilley, at a meeting Tuesday at Rose Hill Baptist Church, updated members of the Ministerial Alliance on the food bank efforts. A task force is gathering information about how other food banks are organized to begin work on bylaws for the Natchez agency.

&8220;We need to get to the point that people see that it&8217;s really happening,&8221; he said.

Swilley reminded the group of the support Mayor Phillip West had given the Ministerial Alliance in getting the food bank established as well as in backing projects such as the National Day of Prayer program.

&8220;Our mayor has bent over backwards to help us,&8221; he said. &8220;And it&8217;s important to give him credit for this.&8221;

The Rev. John Larson, pastor of First Presbyterian Church and president of the alliance, urged members to spend some time during the summer encouraging other ministers to join the group, which will meet again Sept. 26.