Rebuilding Together San Diego and Pepsi Bottling Group Revitalize Community Center

Rebuilding Together and Pepsi's Fall Grants Projects Begin Nationwide

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rebuilding Together San Diego, an affiliate of the nation's leading nonprofit working to preserve affordable homeownership, is working with Pepsi Beverage Company (PBC) to drive revitalization efforts to a local nonprofit community center, San Diego Youth Services.

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This project is one of seven Rebuilding Together affiliate projects awarded fall 2010 grants from PBC. The amount of grants donated by Pepsi totals more than $100,000, which gives affiliates the means to help homeowners and community centers free of charge, across the country this fall.

"The work being completed on this Community Center will not only benefit the nonprofits and organizations which consider this building their place of work, but it will also increase their ability to serve our neighborhoods," Pamela Thorsch, executive director of Rebuilding Together San Diego. "Pepsi's dedication to our community will allow these local organizations to continue revitalizing and serving our neighbors-in-need."

San Diego Youth Services is a multi-service community center that hosts a variety of local nonprofits and community organizations at a discounted rate, allowing the organizations resources and access in order to serve the local area. The Las Mesa/Spring Valley School District partnered with the San Diego Youth Services to transition one of their closed elementary schools into the now operating community center.

The building is receiving a varied work scope to improve its safety and amenities for the nonprofits and organizations that operate from the center. The project includes removal, replacement and priming of new roofing components, painting, and work on windows. Many of the over 50 volunteers helping throughout the day are employees of the nonprofits who use the community center as their offices.

As a National Corporate Sponsor, the Pepsi Beverage Company has been an active collaborator and sponsor of many Rebuilding Together projects and efforts since 2008. During this time, nearly $1 million has been utilized to serve communities in need through Pepsi's support of Rebuilding Together. These contributions are an articulation of PBC's and PepsiCo's dedication to "Performance with Purpose" –Pepsi's commitment to give back to the communities in which it serves as well as delivering sustainable growth. The 'PBC Gives Back' projects identified by Rebuilding Together preserves affordable homeownership by providing repair, accessibility modifications, and energy efficient upgrades for low-income homeowners and community centers serving low-income neighborhoods.

"Pepsi is committed to serving homeowners and communities who are in need of our resources and volunteer-power," said Catherine Patterson, senior manager, PBC Foundation & Community Engagement. "We are pleased to continue our work with Rebuilding Together to deliver tangible impact to communities nationwide and rebuild houses and centers into safer and warmer homes."

ABOUT REBUILDING TOGETHER SAN DIEGO

Rebuilding Together San Diego renovates and preserves affordable housing for low-income homeowners, and sustains neighborhoods throughout our community in its revitalization efforts. Our core values sustain our small, but mighty organization, as our fundamental beliefs are the key to our success. We feel we have a special role to play in helping our community and its residents thrive, while inspiring others to be good corporate citizens.

About Pepsi Beverages Company

Pepsi Beverages Company (PBC) is PepsiCo's beverage manufacturing, sales and distribution operating unit in the United States, Canada and Mexico. PBC handles approximately 75 percent of PepsiCo's North America beverage volume. Its diverse portfolio includes some of the world's most widely recognized beverage brands, including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, Aquafina, Gatorade, SoBe, Lipton, and Amp Energy. In many markets, PBC also manufactures and/or distributes non-Pepsi brands, including Dr Pepper, Crush, ROCKSTAR, and Muscle Milk. The operating unit is headquartered in Westchester County, New York and employs approximately 70,000 people. Learn more about PBC at www.pepsico.com/pbc.

SOURCE Rebuilding Together