Once in a blue moon, a chance to truly make a difference comes along. For the Southern Pine Council, that chance arrived in March 2008.

Word got out that "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," the wildly popular home improvement show, would film their season finale in New Orleans, the Southern Pine Council's hometown. We were familiar with one of the builders involved, so we placed a call that started the ball rolling.

Over the past two seasons, the show's goal was to help people in all 50 states. As the 2007-08 TV season drew to a close, the producers decided to end their two-year trek with a multi-project effort in New Orleans, a town greatly in need of rejuvenation following the 2005 hurricane season. Several builders from around the country were called in to assist in the effort, with Deltec Homes of Asheville, NC, leading the charge.

Two projects were chosen: Noah's Ark Missionary Baptist Church in the city of New Orleans, and the Usea family home across the river in Westwego. The severely damaged structures would be replaced with Deltec's signature "round house": a raised floor building designed to withstand the high winds of a hurricane.

Deltec Homes has long been a fan of Southern Pine lumber. According to Deltec's John Nicholson, "Our homes are engineered to use only the best products, and that's Southern Pine lumber." Deltec's long relationship with Beadles Lumber in Moultrie, Ga., was instrumental in the amount of Southern Pine used in both projects.

The two structures are built on raised wood floor foundations, designed to raise buildings up off the ground and provide a greater level of protection in flood-prone areas. Working with Deltec on the project was a perfect fit for the Southern Pine Council, since we're right in the middle of a Gulf Coast-wide educational campaign to encourage homeowners and builders to "Build to a Higher Standard" and choose raised floor construction.

The show aired May 18 on ABC. Visit www.extremeneworleans.com for more information about the two projects and plenty of construction photos from Deltec.