Pepsi to Award $20 Million to 400 Winning Ideas

Since February, all 50 U.S. states have participated by voting in the Pepsi Refresh Project. With over 61 million votes cast online, the Pepsi Refresh Project is on track to award more than $20 million in grants to over 400 ideas in 2010, according to PepsiCo.

“The findings of our Pepsi Optimism Project survey rang true,” said Jill Beraud, chief marketing officer of PepsiCo Americas Beverages.

“The people that generate the best ideas are those we surround ourselves with every day – not celebrities or politicians. The Pepsi Refresh Project has proven that it is your friends, neighbors and family who inspire and generate ideas that make communities better.”

Here’s a look at what this year’s Pepsi Refresh grantees have accomplished, from building playgrounds in communities across the U.S., to providing instruments to students, to supporting energy efficiency installations:

• 26 Parks and playgrounds that have been built or improved
• 30 Prom outfits that have been donated to high school seniors who could not afford them
• 50 States that have voted for ideas in the Pepsi Refresh Project
• 54 Schools that have been improved
• 159 iPods/Smartboards that have been installed in classrooms
• 3,800 Animals that have been saved or treated
• 4,500 Donations in dollars raised in addition to Pepsi Refresh Project funding
• 23,000 Volunteers involved in the Project
• 1,000 Pajamas that have been donated to those in need
• 123,332 Miles grantees have traveled by foot, bike and skate on Pepsi Refresh Project-funded action trips
• One million People impacted by grantees over the course of the Pepsi Refresh Project
• 3.2 million Dollars of additional funding leveraged

In addition to the ideas realized above, there are 133 projects underway that would otherwise have been scaled back, or nonexistent, the company said.

The final round of 2010 ideas will be up for voting at www.refresheverything.com in Jan. 2011. The first round of submissions in the 2011 program will be accepted starting March 1.

In an effort to support those who generate innovative, optimistic ideas, the Pepsi Refresh Project awarded more than $20 million in 2010 to move communities forward.

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Each month, Pepsi awarded up to $1.3 million in grants through www.refresheverything.com to the ideas with the most votes.

It accepted up to 1,000 new ideas every month and the public decided who won. The newest round of ideas was launched on Dec. 1 and the final round of ideas will be posted on Jan. 3.

In addition, the Pepsi Refresh Project awarded auxiliary grants through program partners.

Pepsi funded projects that made a difference in six categories: Health, Arts & Culture, Food & Shelter, The Planet, Neighborhoods and Education.