IKEA announced the launch of The Life Improvement Project (LIP), a program designed to help inspire people to improve their lives, as well as the lives of others in their community.

This national program will include a wide range of events. First of all, IKEA will be hosting a Life Improvement Sabbatical Contest which offers an opportunity to win a year-long sabbatical (worth $100,000) to improve the lives of others. Interested entrants can submit their project proposal online from September 13 through October 17 at www.thelifeimprovementproject.com.

A series of free, in-store Life Improvement Store Seminars will provide people with tips and inspiration to improve their lives at home. These seminars will be hosted by experts from Family Circle, AOL, Cooking Light, This Old House, and more.

Within Random Acts of Life Improvement, IKEA will surprise the public with tokens of appreciation to improve everyday moments in their lives. The public can follow their closest IKEA store’s Twitter handle to get clues about when and where the events will take place.

During a Life Improvement Challenge every IKEA store will commit $10,000 to support local community initiatives. Customers can participate in-store by texting votes from October 14 through October 28 for their favorite proposals. Winning projects will be announced on November 11.

The Soft Toys for Education Campaign which means donating 1 euro to children’s education programs for every IKEA soft toy purchased during the holiday season will complete the program.

The program debuted in 2010 with the Life Improvement Sabbatical Contest. Kyria Henry of Round Hill, Virginia was chosen among 2,000 entrants to win the grand prize of $100,000 from IKEA to pursue her passion of helping others.

“The program began last year as a way demonstrate the concept of the Life Improvement Store but it’s become so much more,” says Christine Whitehawk, Communications Manager IKEA US, “The positive impact that our customers and our coworkers are making in their communities is inspirational. We’re excited to expand the Life Improvement Project even more this year and to continue being a partner for consumers in improving lives at home and beyond.”