Pepsi Refresh Project Opens First Voting Session to Public With More Than $1 Million To Be Awarded in February for Ideas That Move World Forward

PURCHASE, N.Y., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting today, America can cast their votes at www.refresheverything.com for the refreshing consumer-generated ideas that they believe will make a positive impact on their communities. This is the first of eleven opportunities for the public to win grants from $5,000 up to $250,000 throughout the year. The first voting session ends on February 28 and the ideas that receive the top votes will be announced on Monday, March 1, 2010.

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The Pepsi Refresh Project, a groundbreaking effort to foster innovation in social good, will award more than $20 million this year to fund great ideas that refresh the world. The program launched on January 13 and has already exceeded expectations by receiving the monthly limit of 1,000 submissions in less than seven days with at least one from each state in the U.S.  Joining this effort are actors Demi Moore and Kevin Bacon, who have generated their own ideas for Pepsi Refresh and are competing for support in the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge, which also launches today.

"The Pepsi Refresh Project puts the financial resources in the hands of those who are passionate about creating a better world.  I am very pleased to be a part of this creative initiative to refresh our world," said Demi Moore.  Moore will campaign for her own Pepsi Refresh Idea as part of the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge in support of GEMS – Girls Educational & Mentoring Services. The grant would provide support to outreach workers who help women who have experienced sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking integrate back into society as healthy, safe, productive individuals.

Recent Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award winner, Kevin Bacon, will campaign for his idea: to give thousands of people a SixDegrees.org $20 Good Card – a gift card for charity – which they can use to support their favorite cause.  "I applaud Pepsi for its commitment to fostering social good and its tremendous work in encouraging people to submit their ideas on how to improve our nation. I am optimistic that great changes will be made throughout 2010 as a result of this," said Bacon.

Visit the Pepsi Refresh Project Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/refresheverything, to cast your vote by February 28 in the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge for Moore or Bacon's idea. Pepsi will grant $250,000 to fund the idea that wins the most votes.

The Pepsi Refresh Facebook page will also feature an exclusive opportunity to watch the Pepsi Refresh Everything through Great Ideas Brainstorm live from New York City.  The Brainstorm will bring together Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Jill Beraud, CMO and president of joint ventures for PepsiCo Americas Beverages; advisory board member, Majora Carter; as well as college students from the New York City area to discuss ideas that they believe will positively move the world forward.  From 12:00 p.m. EST to 1:00 p.m. EST, viewers can submit questions in real time via Facebook and Twitter (@Pepsi), and engage with the hosts and audience. Content from the brainstorm will be available on Ustream, Facebook and a new iPhone application.

"The overwhelmingly positive response we have received since launching our campaign has been incredible and we are confident that this program will only continue to flourish in 2010," said Beraud.  "This is the people's project, it's in their hands. We encourage all individuals to submit their creative and innovative ideas to the Pepsi Refresh Project and cast their votes for the ideas that they want to see come to life."

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/pepsirefreshproject/41854/

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.

Pepsi Refresh Project

In an effort to support those who generate innovative, optimistic ideas, the Pepsi Refresh Project (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 and site visitors can vote for the best ideas for funding.  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. 

Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages

The Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages (PCNAB) portfolio features market-leading liquid refreshment beverages, including the Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist and Mug trademarks in the carbonated soft drink category. PCNAB is a division of PepsiCo, which offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 18 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 over 200 countries.  With more than $43 billion in 2008 revenues, PepsiCo employs 198,000 people who 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 Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages