A dozen MBA students from Illinois are continuing a commitment to South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation this week with a trip to help on service projects, meet residents and learn the Oglala Lakota culture.

The group from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will spend the week working with a local organization to repair trailer skirts, build step porches and repair roofs to help a community that's constantly fighting poverty and high unemployment.

It's part of an ongoing effort by the Kola Foundation, a student-run not-for-profit organization that aims to stimulate the local economy, promote education, improve health care and foster hope.

Second-year MBA student Shelly Wohaldo says Kola is also helping to sponsor an annual business plan competition and providing mentoring to students and new businesses.