Every winter, Margaret Boardman can feel the cold air seeping in through her windows and tapes them up every summer.

But not anymore.

"I was at the food bank and I saw a paper that had the "fix-up Festival on it and it was a week before the applications were ending so, I didn't know if I had a chance or not but I hurried up and put in an application," says Boardman.

She says she was shocked to learn she was selected.

"I am really very grateful because it's just something that I can't afford to do and I know it's going to save me money and I'm on disability so, I have a hard time making the bills," explains Boardman.

In addition to replacing her windows with insulated ones, volunteers also installed railings.

"I know that's going to save me on my insurance and...it'll help a lot because in the winter, it does get icy there," says Boardman.

Boardman's home is one of eleven in the Fix-Up festival this year. Months of preparation go into the event and around $2,300 in repairs for each home- from replacing windows like Boardman to plumbing work and painting.

Jim Hamilton is team captain of the Edward Jones project and a Fix-Up Festival Co-Chair. He says the festival is about helping homeowners and giving the community the opportunity to volunteer.

"We have been totally surprised at how vigorous the response is to volunteer. It's like people were waiting for the chance to do something like this," says Hamilton.

Hamilton says they start planning at the first of the year- from finding organizations to adopt homes and assigning volunteers to marketing and finance- and while the process is fun in itself, he says the real reward comes the day of the festival.

"When you can talk to these homeowners and you almost can't go through their living rooms without them saying 'thank you' repeatedly," says Hamilton.

Margaret Boardman is no exception.

"Just glad that I won't have the tape flapping and I'm so happy that they said it's going to really make a difference in my heating bills...I really want to thank everyone of them," says Boardman.

Organizers say there are a lot of homes like Boardman's in need of repairs. It will take a lot of work but they say they'd like to see the project grow. Maybe 18 homes next year, or more.

The Fix-Up Festival is hosted by the Bozeman Sunrise Rotary Club.

Coordinators say their hope for the future is one day where different organizations and groups in the community are working on service projects at the same time.