Brad Pitt

Man with a Mission

By Michelle Tauber

UPDATED 12/17/2007 at 01:00 AM EST • Originally published 12/17/2007 at 01:00 AM EST

The first thing visitors notice is the huge pink swaths of it, the color of raspberry sorbet. The vibrant pieces of fabric—which dot 11 blocks in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward—represent some of the thousands of homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

On Dec. 3 they were the backdrop for the launch of Make It Right, a new campaign spearheaded by Brad Pitt to help rebuild the devastated area. "My hope is," he said, while Angelina Jolie and son Maddox, 6, looked on proudly, "that we can grow this thing."

Pitt, who bought a home with Jolie in the city's French Quarter in January, pledged $5 million of his own funds for the $22.5 million project, which aims to begin by building 150 homes. The pink tents will remain in place for five weeks, after which Pitt and his partners hope to begin construction. "We can get families in homes by next summer," says Pitt. "There's no reason why we can't do 1,000 homes, 10,000 homes, 100,000 homes."

For more information or to make a donation, visit MAKEITRIGHTNOLA.ORG