Voting Begins Today for Pepsi Refresh Project: Do Good for the Gulf Ideas

Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees Encourages Americans to Vote for Projects that Help Communities Affected by Gulf Coast Oil Spill

News provided by

PepsiCo

Aug 02, 2010, 12:00 ET

PURCHASE, N.Y., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Starting today, Pepsi is giving America the opportunity to help communities impacted by the oil spill by empowering them to choose their favorite Do Good for the Gulf ideas. Voting for the 287 Pepsi Refresh Project: Do Good for the Gulf ideas will open today at noon ET at www.refresheverything.com and will continue through August 31.

Do Good for the Gulf is an extension of the Pepsi Refresh Project, a year-long program that will give away more than $20 million in the U.S. to fund good ideas, big and small, that move communities forward.

Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees has partnered with Pepsi to help elevate the need for good ideas, big and small, that will help impacted individuals and communities in this region get back on their feet. The ideas up for public voting relate to providing financial and emotional support for Gulf Coast families, furthering environmental education and stimulating tourism and the Gulf economy. Click here for a video message from Brees encouraging the public to participate in Do Good for the Gulf.


WHO:	Americans decide which Do Good for the Gulf ideas will get funded. Pepsi will award $1.3 million in grants of $250,000, $50,000, $25,000 and $5,000 increments to ideas that receive the greatest number of votes. The public can cast up to 10 votes each day.

WHY:	The Pepsi Refresh Project: Do Good for the Gulf is empowering Americans to make a positive impact on communities that have been most directly affected by the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Pepsi Refresh Project is doubling its efforts in August to support ideas that will help Gulf communities.

WHEN:	Voting starts today at noon ET and will continue through August 31. Grant recipients will be announced on Thursday, September 2, 2010.

WHERE:	Visit www.refresheverything.com to cast your votes for The Pepsi Refresh Project: Do Good for the Gulf ideas.

Pepsi Refresh Project Grant Recipients

Each month, The Pepsi Refresh Project accepts 1,000 ideas and asks America to choose which ideas will win a Pepsi Refresh Grant. Since February, the Pepsi Refresh Project has awarded more than $8 million to fund more than 200 great ideas to move communities forward. In July, 32 ideas with the most votes were funded. To view the entire list of Pepsi Refresh grant finalists for July, visit: www.refresheverything.com/finalists. In addition to voting for Gulf-related ideas, America can also now vote for the newest round of ideas in the Pepsi Refresh Project by visiting www.refresheverything.com, or by texting each idea's unique identifier to PEPSI (73774).

Pepsi Refresh Project

In an effort to support those who generate innovative, optimistic ideas, the Pepsi Refresh Project (http://www.refresheverything.com), will award more than $20 million in 2010 to move communities forward. Individuals can apply for grants to benefit a variety of projects starting January 13, and site visitors can vote for the best ideas for funding starting February 1. The Pepsi Refresh Project is an evolution of the Refresh Everything initiative Pepsi launched in 2009, which showed the brand as an optimistic catalyst for idea creation, leading to an ever-refreshing world. Pepsi will fund projects that make a difference in six categories: Health, Arts & Culture, Food & Shelter, The Planet, Neighborhoods and Education.

The Pepsi Refresh Project can be found at www.refresheverything.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/refresheverything or on Twitter, @Pepsi or #pepsirefresh.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that each generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses - Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade - also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in over 200 countries. With more than $60 billion in revenue, PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

SOURCE PepsiCo