Photo by: jacreative
By now we’ve all heard about the Pepsi Refresh Project and probably seen the commercials on TV. But just in case you don’t own a TV, don’t have access to the internet, or… don’t have friends… here’s a quick recap:
The Pepsi Refresh Project, created by PepsiCola (who else?), funds ideas, organizations and people that are having a positive impact on the world. Potential projects range from replacing disposable lunch trays with reusable ones to providing employment education to homeless women. Contestants submit their entries online, the general public votes for their favorites, and the entries with the most votes wins! Approximately $1.3 million are up for grabs each month with monetary awards ranging in size from $5,000 to $250,000.
Besides from the obvious funding awesome-ness of the Pepsi Refresh Project, we wanted to highlight it for another reason: Greek involvement!
A big ChapterTalk congratulations to the members of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. Their project, mentoring inner city girl and boy scouts (and forming troops if none exist in the area), was a Pepsi Refresh Project grantee in February 2010. Alpha Phi Omega walked away from the Project with $25,000 to buy scout uniforms and handbooks and provide educational scholarships. To read their winning entry in the Pepsi Refresh Project, click here.
Although you can no longer vote for Alpha Phi Omega, there’s another Greek chapter who needs your support! The ladies of Zeta Tau Alpha from Indiana University (Alpha Xi chapter) are currently hoping to win their own grant of $25,000 from the Pepsi Refresh Project. Every year, Zeta Tau Alpha holds an all-male talent show, ingeniously named “Big Man on Campus”, to raise money for and awareness of breast cancer and breast cancer education. The $25,000 from the Pepsi Refresh Project will cover the event’s costs so that 100% of the money raised by the talent show will benefit breast cancer research, awareness and education (i.e. the Indiana University Medical Center – breast surgical oncology research, Komen Race for the Cure program, and Think-Pink! awareness programs). Last year, the Big Man on Campus event donated over $150,000, the largest amount raised by a single Greek chapter philanthropy in the nation.
To read the Zeta Tau Alpha entry and vote, click here. Voting ends August 31st so be sure to show your support before it’s too late!
If you want to make a donation directly to Zeta Tau Alpha, or find out more about their breast cancer awareness partnerships, visit the Zeta Tau Alpha website.
