PHILADELPHIA, PA, May 23, 2010/KAPPA PR -- After a little over three months of conceptualizing, and finalizing a written proposal, the Kappa Foundation has prepared a $250,000 grant proposal in support of Kappa Kamp, a summer academic enrichment program at The Piney Woods School in Mississippi.
The Kappa Foundation’s grant proposal is scheduled to be posted on the Pepsi Refresh Project website (www.RefreshEverything.com) on June 1st. The proposal will be posted for the entire month of June where supporters of the proposal will be able to vote each day after a one-time registering process on the Pepsi Refresh Project website. The Kappa Foundation proposal asks for school operational support for students as well as for tuition relief for students aged 10 to 15 who will be attending Kappa Kamp.
“Since January of this year, PepsiCo has awarded over $6M for community oriented projects under the Refresh Project. Each month, $1.3M to ideas in categories such as health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighbors, and education has been granted. Kappa Kamp is Kappa Alpha Psi’s community oriented national project and deserves to be a part of this competition” said Grand Polemarch Dwayne M. Murray. “I am confident that we can make the case for Kappa Kamp to our membership and corporate partners,” Murray went on to say.
Pepsi is accepting 1000 ideas each month, and they are giving grants away to whichever idea wins from the online voting process. The Pepsi site says, "We're looking for people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact.”
“Pepsi, in its efforts to change the world, redirected $20M from their Super Bowl marketing budget and placed those dollars into a new wave marketing platform” said Kappa Foundation Board Member Elbert V. Brooks. Brooks further stated that, “according to my contacts at PepsiCo., the Refresh Project guarantees $1.3 million in 32 grants each month in the following manner:
• $250,000 - two grants
• $ 50,000 - ten grants
• $ 25,000 - ten grants
• $ 5,000 - ten grants
Winners are selected each month of 2010 through an online voting processes. Many of the previous grant winners use Facebook and Twitter to secure votes.” In Pepsi’s words, “voters vote in a democratic way online. Members of the public will vote for projects that they find the most compelling.”
In February, Grand Polemarch Murray, chose a project team and directed them to engage the Pepsi project aggressively. The Grand Polemarch chose retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Ivann E. Greene of the Roseville (CA) Alumni Chapter and former assistant secretary of the CA Department of Veteran Affairs to serve as project administrator. KAPSI members Henery Brown of the Seattle Alumni Chapter and CEO of the Girard Group based in Seattle, WA, and Cleveland Ferguson, III, of the Pensacola (FL) Alumni Chapter, and Professor of Law at Florida Coastal School of Law, were chosen to serve as the deputy project administrators.
To coordinate the voting effort within the state of Mississippi, Greene chose Henry Flowers, Past Grand Board Member and Past Polemarch of the Southwestern Province, and James A. Reed, current Polemarch of the Jackson (MS) Alumni Chapter as State of Mississippi Coordinators for the project.
As the voting period begins on June 1st and end on the 31st, go to www.RefreshEverything.com and vote early and vote often!
The Partnership
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
The story of Kappa Alpha Psi is to a large extent the story of black students everywhere, whether organized or not, who attended predominantly white colleges or universities in America prior to World War I. The Fraternity was founded in 1911 with the motto of "Achievement in every field of human endeavor."
Early in this century, African-American students were actively dissuaded from attending college. Formidable obstacles were erected to prevent the few who were enrolled from assimilating into co-curricular campus life. The accomplishments of these first Black students are all the more noteworthy, because typically they worked their way through college.
Their determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable social and economic odds is a source of inspiration to less than full-privileged students at white institutions of higher learning throughout America. To understand this is to understand the birth of college fraternities among Blacks. This ostracism characterized Indiana University in 1911, thus causing 10 black students to form Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, which remains the only Greek letter organization with its Alpha Chapter on the University's campus.
Kappa Alpha Psi was founded on the campus of Indiana University on January 5, 1911. The Fraternity's fundamental purpose is Achievement. The Ten Founders of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity gave birth to a great concept, the idea that if we are going to be brothers, let us be brothers on the best terms that we know. The Founders sought a formula that would immediately raise the sights of black collegians and stimulate them to accomplishments higher than they might have imagined. Fashioning achievement as its purpose, Kappa Alpha Psi has established over 400 alumni and undergraduate chapters worldwide.
For more information, please visit the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. international web site at www.kappaalphapsi1911.com
The Kappa Foundation, Inc.
The Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation, Inc. exists as the philanthropic arm of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. The Foundation was established in 1981 as a non-profit, tax exempt, publicly supported organization as described in Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code. Its purpose is to assist the community service efforts of the more than 600 active undergraduate and alumni chapters of Kappa Alpha Psi. The Foundation currently supports scholarships, after-school programs and national projects such as Habitat for Humanity and the Sunday of Hope initiative that benefits the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
For more information, please visit www.kappaalphapsifoundation.com
The Piney Woods School
The Piney Woods School is a private school, accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and approved by the State of Mississippi.
Founded in 1909, Piney Woods provides students in grades 9 – 12 with an outstanding academic experience. The Piney Woods School's unique character comes from its ability to promote academic excellence by creating a structured environment in a planned coeducational setting that encourages intellectual curiosity, explores ethical and moral issues, creates a sense of responsibility to community and peers and develops leadership skills, preparing students for success in college, career and life.
The 60-acre campus sits among 2,000 wooded acres and provides the atmosphere for students to learn and grow in a challenging environment.
For more information, visit www.pineywoods.org/default.asp.
Contact:
• Elbert V. Brooks, Board Member Kappa Foundation – elbertbrooks@hotmail.com
• Ivann E. Greene, Project Administrator - ivann@surewest.net
• Henry Flowers, Mississippi State Coordinator - Henry.Flowers@campus-supply.com
• James A. Reed, Mississippi State Coordinator - JAPolemarch@yahoo.com
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