Pepsi Refresh Project 2011 - awarding millions of dollars in grants

The Second Year of Pepsi's Refresh Project Begins With Five Days to Submit Entries; More Than $1 Million to be Given Away Each Month in Education, Arts & Music, Communities and Monthly Challenge Categories

Pepsi has launched the second year of its Pepsi Refresh Project, calling on people from across the United States to submit bold ideas that have the power to move communities forward, focusing on the categories that America cares about most: Education, Communities and Arts & Music.

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In addition to its standing grant categories, Pepsi will announce a new Pepsi Challenge each month in the form of a question that Pepsi will challenge the public to answer with creative ideas.

This month, Pepsi is challenging fans to channel their love of music to drive social change with its first Pepsi Challenge by asking: "How would you rock the house for a good cause?"

Believing that every individual can refresh the world, Pepsi is enabling innovative ideas through the Pepsi Refresh Project, a platform for inspiration, learning and taking action. By awarding more than $1.2 million each month to ideas that receive the most votes at RefreshEverything.com, Pepsi aims to encourage fun ideas that capture the youthful optimism in all of us.

Pepsi will accept project entries for five days from noon April 4 through midnight ET April 9, 2011, and the first five days of every month thereafter. Up to fifteen hundred (1,500) ideas will then be selected randomly and posted on RefreshEverything.com for voting for one month, starting May 1, 2011.

In partnership with GOOD, the Pepsi Refresh Project's social impact partner, Pepsi will continue to provide support to Refresh Project grantees. GOOD will continue to work closely with grant recipients to activate their projects, ensure the greatest impact possible, and tell the inspiring, fun stories of grantees making a difference in their communities. Pepsi will also continue its partnership with Global Giving to administer grant disbursements and monitoring.

You can find more information on the Pepsi Refresh Project at the Refresh Press Room: RefreshEverything.com/press-room, on Facebook at facebook.com/Pepsi, or on Twitter @Pepsi or #pepsirefresh.

Watch video - Pepsi Refresh Project - DeStorm Powers and Austin Halbert Rock the House for a Good Cause:
(DeStorm Power talks with seventeen-year-old Refresh Project grantee Austin Halbert. Austin's project, Silence the Violence, used live music to refresh his community, and he gives DeStorm his five-step, foolproof plan to rock the house for a good cause.)

About The Pepsi Refresh Project

Each month the Pepsi Refresh Project encourages Americans to dream big ideas and get them submitted. Pepsi will award up to 64 grants and more than $1.2 million to fund amazing ideas that refresh the world. Ideas with the most votes on www.RefreshEverything.com will be funded. Submissions will be accepted for a 30-day period each month, with fifteen hundred (1,500) ideas selected randomly and posted on RefreshEverything.com for voting with the public deciding on who wins. To date, Pepsi has awarded over $20 million through the Pepsi Refresh Project and local grants to ideas across the country including grants to refresh over 123 schools, 78 parks and playgrounds, 21 foster homes and housing facilities, and starting up more than 60 independent organizations. In 2011, millions of participants engaging in the Pepsi Refresh Project will be able to do so in even deeper ways by learning about past winners, watching videos of fun ideas brought to life and discussing their newest ideas through group boards on RefreshEverything.com.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that each generates 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 more than 200 countries. With annualized revenues of nearly $60 billion, 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. PepsiCo Official Website

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For more information, go to:

Pepsi Refresh Project Official Website

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