America The Beautiful: MTN DEW® To Award $200,000 In Outdoor Grants To Protect And Preserve The Heartland

MTN DEW and Country Music Superstar Chase Rice Release "America the Beautiful" Performance Encouraging Nominations for Grants Program

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PepsiCo

Oct 04, 2021, 10:00 ET

PURCHASE, N.Y., Oct. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MTN DEW® announces the launch of Outdoor Grants, an initiative to award $200,000 to nonprofit organizations that champion the great outdoors. Through the program, MTN DEW will provide 40 $5,000 grants to community organizations across the U.S. who have faced funding and volunteer participation challenges due to the ongoing pandemic. This effort is part of a long-term commitment to help more Heartlanders access the great outdoors by helping to remove some barriers.

MTN DEW is teaming up with country music superstar and fellow outdoor enthusiast Chase Rice to celebrate the launch and encourage consumers to apply and nominate their favorite local community nonprofits for an Outdoor Grant. Together, DEW and Rice produced a rendition of "America the Beautiful," a timeless anthem that inspires the nation with its patriotic tribute to the country's landscapes. The performance video is an ode to both the Heartland where DEW Nation pursues its outdoor passions and the community organizations that preserve and protect it. Rice's intimate performance, driven by his love for the outdoors, premiered on YouTube and calls for fans to participate in the Outdoor Grants program. The video also includes a spotlight of local 2020 MTN DEW Outdoor Grants winners from last year's inaugural program.

Both consumers and nonprofit organizations can submit nominations or directly apply for a $5,000 MTN DEW Outdoor Grant now through November 8 at DEWOutdoorGrants.com. The submitted nonprofit organization must meet one of three project categories: outdoor conservation, outdoor participation, or outdoor access / infrastructure. MTN DEW will reward the 40 organizations who best demonstrate their local community impact to preserving and protecting the outdoors through three judging categories: authenticity and creativity, local community impact, and influence on outdoor conservation or participation. Submissions will be judged by a panel led by Rice, and the winning organizations will be announced in January 2022. Nominations and applications are open to all U.S. residents aged 18+ and U.S. based 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations. Full rules and regulations can be found here.

"This classic song perfectly sums up everything that makes the American Heartland special," shares Rice. "I'm proud to collaborate with MTN DEW as a DEW Outdoor ambassador to help support even more organizations who protect these lands for future generations to come."

With a heritage steeped in the great outdoors, MTN DEW shares its fans' thirst for adventure and freedom – whether that's boating on the lake with friends or breaking out the camo for hunting season. Inclusive of the 2021 MTN Dew Outdoor Grants, which doubles the total grant fund from last year's inaugural program, MTN DEW is continuing its commitment by donating more than $1.2 million this year to fuel outdoor passions.

"Community nonprofit organizations are at the forefront of preserving and protecting the outdoor spaces where DEW Nation pursues their passions," says Jill Abbott, chief marketing officer, PepsiCo Beverages North America, Central Division. "Through MTN DEW Outdoor Grants, we're looking to support and raise awareness of local nonprofits across the Heartland who have faced a difficult and uncertain year, and are often overlooked. Through Rice's performance, we hope to inspire outdoor enthusiasts and nonprofits to get involved and nominate the local organizations that make an impact in their backyards."

In addition to awarding Grants, outdoor enthusiasts can get in on the action with epic "Get Out and Do" prizes. Beginning September 25, fans can visit DEWOutdoors.com to donate time and volunteer for daily chances to win prizes like a year's worth of DEW, a Bumpboxx, or even a 2022 FORD F-150. Activities include taking pledges, completing polls, learning something new, posting on social media and getting outdoors to score entries into prize drawings. This promotion will run through November 19, 2021. Full rules and regulations can be found here.

Stay up-to-date on the latest MTN DEW news by visiting www.mountaindew.com and following @MountainDew on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For more information about Rice, including where to catch his upcoming concerts, visit www.ChaseRice.com and follow on Twitter and Facebook @ChaseRiceMusic and on Instagram @ChaseRice.

About MTN DEW
MOUNTAIN DEW®, a product of PepsiCo North America Beverages, is the No. 1 flavored carbonated soft drink in the U.S. With its one-of-a-kind citrus taste, MOUNTAIN DEW exhilarates and quenches with every sip. In addition to the original MOUNTAIN DEW and DIET MOUNTAIN DEW®, the permanent DEW® product line includes MTN DEW® KICKSTART™, MOUNTAIN DEW CODE RED®, MOUNTAIN DEW VOLTAGE®, MTN DEW® ZERO SUGAR, MTN DEW MAJOR MELON™ and MTN DEW MAJOR MELON™ ZERO SUGAR. For more information, check out www.mountaindew.com, www.facebook.com/mountaindew or follow on Twitter @mountaindew.

About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $70 billion in net revenue in 2020, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, Tropicana and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 23 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Convenient Foods and Beverages by Winning with Purpose. "Winning with Purpose" reflects our ambition to win sustainably in the marketplace and embed purpose into all aspects of our business strategy and brands. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.

About Chase Rice
With more than 2 million albums sold and nearly 2 billion total streams, plus a legion of passionate fans at his high-energy concerts across the globe, Chase Rice has established himself as a powerful force in Nashville and beyond – yet he genuinely sees new release The Album, out now, as the launching pad for music that says what he wants to say, how he wants to say it. With songs such as his Platinum-certified Top 10 hit "Lonely If You Are" and his latest No. 1 hit, "Drinkin' Beer. Talkin' God. Amen. (feat. Florida Georgia Line)," this is the same gravelly-voiced Chase Rice fans first fell in love with years ago – but better. Freer. Unbeholden and uninhibited, somehow capable of evoking Chris LeDoux and The Chronic, campfire singalongs and stadium anthems, all at once. The series builds upon the success of his sophomore album, Lambs & Lions, which featured the Double-Platinum, two-week chart topper "Eyes On You" – Rice's first No. 1 as an artist and the most-streamed song of his career (nearly 550M streams to date). Lambs & Lions followed Ignite the Night, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums and No. 3 on the all-genre chart, producing a pair of Top 5 hits; "Ready Set Roll" and "Gonna Wanna Tonight." In addition to supporting Kenny Chesney's The Big Revival stadium tour, Rice has consistently sold out 2,500-3,000 seat venues on his own headlining tours and is set to join Kane Brown's Blessed & Free Tour in early 2022.

Contacts for MTN DEW
Christina Panta / [email protected] / 703-473-6806
Yera Ha / [email protected] / 603-505-1268

Contacts for Chase Rice
Ebie McFarland & Janet Edbrooke / [email protected] & [email protected] / 615-327-3259
Jay Jones & Quinn Kaemmer / [email protected] & [email protected] / 615-610-2096