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FOXBORO - When Jarvis Green read about a group of National Honor Society students from Foxboro High School planning to spend their February vacation helping victims of Hurricane Katrina, he knew he wanted to help.

Green, a defensive end for the New England Patriots, hails from Donaldsonville, La., on the banks of the Mississippi River, which was hit hard by flooding from the 2005 monster hurricane and is still trying to recover some four years later.

"How can I help these kids?" he asked Patti Martin, a former FHS yearbook adviser who runs a restaurant with her husband at Patriot Place.

"Wow, I'm quite impressed," he told Martin. "Must be a great group of kids."

That was the start of a partnership between the Jarvis Green Foundation, Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro run by Patti and Bill Martin and the honor society students and advisors. Green's foundation held a fundraiser for the trip from Monday night at Tastings in Patriot Place.

"I was first amazed that this group would actually want to give up family vacations in February to help others in need," she said. "This speaks very highly about these kids and I was very eager to help in any way that I can."

She and her husband have met a number of Patriots at their business in the shadow of Gillette Stadium, most with charitable foundations, and they have been involved with the Jarvis Green Foundation for about a year.

"When I heard that these kids were interested in the Louisiana-Mississippi area, Jarvis immediately came to mind," she said. "His foundation is all about helping people in that area - which is where he grew up, where his extended family still resides and where he owns a restaurant and liquor store - who have suffered great losses due to Hurricane Katrina."

Green jumped at the idea, and asked if he could host the group in Donaldsonville, instead of their planned destination of Ocean Springs, Miss., where they would be working in a program with other groups of volunteers.

He and Martin met with Foxboro High Prinicipal Jeffrey Theodoss, National Honor Society advisers Caitlyn Annicelli and Kelly Shaughnessy and the 10 students who were planning the trip and raising the $10,000 or so they needed through dances, dinners and doing odd jobs around town.

"As an adviser, I can't say enough about these kids," Annicelli said. "They have done this all on their own."

Green's pitch was a hit, as he offered to help with lodging and food, as well as provide meaningful work with people he trusts.

"I'd like to make sure that these students are in a safe environment and working for folks that really need the help, as opposed to those who just want the help," Green said. "There is so much devastation down there that money and help is thrown around all over the place."

He told the students directly: "If you were my kids, I'd want to make sure that someone is looking out for your best interests and make sure that you are safe and not put in a situation beyond your control." To that end, Green plans to be working right alongside the students.

"I'd like to have my team of construction workers and friends join us and put us to work helping someone who my foundation and the state of Louisiana thinks needs the help," he said.

He also mentioned that he will have area high school students help them.

"It makes sense to introduce the students to each other, as it is important to put them face to face so they can appreciate each other," he explained.

Green's high school in Donaldsonville, where he starred before going on to play football at LSU and then the Patriots, once had more than 1,000 students, according to Annicelli. Now, she said, the high school enrollment in the hard-hit city is around 450.

Green has worked to help the Donaldsonville community get back on its feet by opening the Capitol Restaurant Bar and Grill in the downtown district in August of last year. He planned and renovated the business after taking a 15-month internship at Providence Prime.

That's where the Foxboro volunteers will be eating dinner during their stay. Green has also arranged to find accomodations at a nearby hotel, provide a van for all transportation needs and have them served breakfast at a friends' cafe.

The FHS contingent will be in Louisiana Feb. 15-20.

"The students are very excited about doing whatever they can to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina," Martin said.

"Jarvis and I both knew from the get-go that this is going to be a great adventure for all involved."

FOR MORE INFORMATION on the Jarvis Green Foundation, visit www.jarvisgreen.com.