AIDS advocates all over are taking the Pepsi challenge. Throughout 2010, the beverage giant has been awarding 32 grants each month as part of its community-improving Pepsi Refresh Project. Individuals, businesses and nonprofits submit proposals online, where peers are able to determine the winning grants by voting for their favorite ideas.
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So far, more than two dozen submissions revolved around HIV/AIDS, including one from POZ contributor/blogger Shawn Decker and his wife, Gwenn Barringer, who propose providing sexual health education to 50,000 teenagers in 50 states.
In June, AIDS Research Alliance of America proposed purchasing state-of-the-art laboratory equipment for its quest to find a cure. The idea finished in that month’s top two—and garnered a $250,000 prize. (Other grant increments include $5,000, $25,000 and $50,000, and they’re divided among six categories—health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and education.)
By year’s end, Pepsi will have awarded up to $1.3 million in Refresh grants. And there’s talk that the cola company might extend the program into 2011. Let’s hope so, because like an unopened bottle of pop, HIV/AIDS advocacy and its ability to improve a community never go flat.
For more information about the Pepsi Refresh Project, go to refresheverything.com.
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