Students in JCCC's interior design program formed one of 15 teams for Project Change-KC, an organization that connects local nonprofits with volunteers who want to make a positive change in the community.

Project Change-KC sponsored its second annual "Challenge Event" in which teams of local volunteers within the architectural and design or other creative industries are challenged to create and perform multiple community service projects within a four-month period.

Members of JCCC's Interior Design Student Association accepted the challenge. Each Project Change team was expected to complete three different projects to meet a humanitarian or environmental need within the KC metro area between January and April. The fourth challenge, in which all teams participate together, is May 15.

Students Kristy Nguyen and Corinne Lakey chaired the JCCC team, the only participating student team, with Dr. Diana Ingham, associate professor, interior design, as faculty adviser.

Literacy for children was JCCC team's February focus. Students collected 156 books for Reach Out and Read Kansas City, a program sponsored by the University of Kansas Medical Center to place children's book in 43 clinic sites in Greater Kansas City. JCCC students also read to children at Operation Breakthrough, 30th and Troost, Kansas City, Mo., a center to help children living in poverty develop to their fullest potential by providing them a safe, loving and educational environment.

In March, volunteers worked a four-hour shift in the Heartland Habitat for Humanity ReStore, a store that sells used and new items for housing and construction as a way to recycle as well as help people build or remodel homes at a low cost.

"It was heavy labor," said Nguyen. "We unloaded supplies from trucks, stocked the store, waited on customers and helped them take items to their vehicles."

In April, the students were slated to remove old mulch from the children's playground at Rose Brooks Center, a domestic violence shelter, and replace it with new mulch that they obtained as a donation.

During the May 15 group project, the JCCC team will work with the other Kansas City teams to build the James Nutter Park in the Ivanhoe Neighborhood, 37th and Woodland, reclaiming vacant lots as an area for adults and children to relax and play. JCCC's team is tasked with procuring donations for a "block party" for area residents and volunteers at the event, as well as helping with park construction.

JCCC interior design students do this volunteer work in addition to school, work and family commitments.

"The whole point of our work is to get out there and make a difference," Nguyen said. "The philosophy of Project Change is ‘be the change you wish see in the world,' a quote by Mhatma Gandhi. And that's our reason for volunteering. We want to give back to the community with our personal time."

"There is a long tradition in the interior design department and profession for service to the community. Our students understand how important it is to be a part of the community," Ingham said. "It is more than giving back to the community, although that is an important part. They understand that this is their community and that they can make a positive difference in others' lives."