IDSC PHILANTHROPIC WORK ON EXTREME MAKEOVER

On a rainy Saturday in October, 50 KSU Interior Design students participated in ABC’s Extreme Makeover, Home Edition in Pittsburgh PA. The participants volunteered their time cleaning up the home site after the construction had finished.

Extreme Makeover, Home Edition with host Ty Pennington surprise families with complete home makeovers. This episode featured a family’s home that was in poor condition; one side was covered with a tarp because of severe water damage and the other side had been destroyed by a tornado that hit earlier that year. With the help of Pennington, Designers, Builders Montgomery & Rust, and all the volunteers the family had a newly designed and built home when they returned from their Walt Disney Vacation.

KSU Interior Design students were offered the opportunity to participate through the campus organization IDSC (Interior Design Student Collaborative). IDSC is an umbrella organization for the national Interior Design Organizations ASID and IIDA. The opportunity to help out the crew of Extreme Makeover was open to all IDSC members. Volunteers were asked to unload accessories from the home and also cleanup the job site once the home was built.

“We knew the house would already be finished – so it wasn’t about seeing Ty Pennington – it was about volunteering our time to help in a neighboring community,” said participant.

IDSC members are familiar with helping out in their community, as the organization does a lot of philanthropic work through programs like Habitat for Humanity, Walk for Diabetes, and the annual KSU Beaux Arts Ball. Members volunteer for Habitat for Humanity throughout the year on Saturdays – however this year working around Saturday classes proved difficult, and no Habitat events were planned. In the fall, all ISDC members are encouraged to walk in the Walk for Diabetes.

“This event is very close to our hearts, in 1997 a student from our program passed away of the disease,” Julie Edwards, Philanthropist Chair of IDSC states.

In addition to the Walk for Diabetes and Habitat for Humanity IDSC members also collect ingredients and meal components for Thanksgiving Dinners and donates them to families in need in the Kent area. This past Thanksgiving, participating members provided five families with Thanksgiving meals.

Finally, the Beaux Arts Ball is organized every fall semester, by the Architecture, Interior Design, and Fashion students. The money is used to raise money for all three organizations and fund any events that occur throughout the year. Both the Architecture and Interior Design students create and set up installment pieces and , while the Fashion students put on a fashion show during the Ball.

Belonging to IDSC means more than belonging to an Interior Design Student Organization, it means giving back to the community through volunteer activities. The Extreme Makeover event was just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ with the philanthropic work through IDSC. IDSC president Kristen Kanotz comments on the experience -

“Even though the weather was cold and rainy – it was a great experience. It brought 50 of us all together from different years in the ID program; it was so nice to spend time with people we don’t get to see regularly.”

This episode of Extreme Makeover was aired Sunday, January 4 2009 at 9pm on ABC.