De Anza College students will have the opportunity to win $250,000 from Pepsico Inc. in January, provided they win votes in Pepsi’s Refresh Project contest.
Each month, Pepsico inc. accepts a total of 1000 applications from across the nation from people, businesses and non-profits who have ideas on how to help their community. A total of 32 grants will be awarded each month from Pepsi. The prize grants will range from $5,000 to $250,000. Only two organizations will be granted the $250,000 prize for whoever can dedicate time and resources in the month of January to get the most votes..
The project with the most votes cumulated within the month receives the prize money.
De Anza’s student body government entered for the month of January to win $250,000 towards the Success and Retention Peer Mentor Program to aid the school against the effects of budget cuts and California’s rising debt.
The $250,000 would go toward De Anza’s mentor program: $100,000 to find and hire peer mentors, $25,000 to hire a supervisor and cash pay-roll manager, and $125,000 to buy advanced technology for the current tutorial centers on campus.
The boost in mentors will help De Anza students taking an assortment of courses. Many instructors may not have the time to meet up individually with students, especially with large class sizes.
Peer tutors provided by the Success and Retention program are assigned to help students throughout the quarter. “This initiative will provide support for students not only in the classroom, but outside as well, offering aid and help to any student looking for a deeper understanding of learning material,” states the Pepsi Refresh Facebook page.
DASB members will be promoting the Pepsi Refresh project to get as many votes as they can, as well as getting more students involved with the cause throughout the first week of winter quarter. The DASB will table out in the Main Quad and across the entire campus, providing games, activities, and music to gain attention of students walking past, according to 21-year-old project leader Jenn Uvira.
De Anza students will be able to vote for De Anza’s cause on computers provided in the main quad, or get information on how to vote on their phone via text or from home.
The Senate plans on holding a flash mob the first day of winter quarter to garner the attention of students for the cause.
As voting incentive, the Senate will be setting up a scavenger hunt for students to vote at specific locations, and submitting pictures of themselves at said locations to be entered to win a prize at the end of the voting, which ends on Jan. 31.
Meetings discussing the progress of the project will be held throughout January every Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. in the El Clemente room in the cafeteria.
Project promotion continues throughout the month with DASB sponsored events. There will be a candle-light vigil for education in Parking Lot A at 1:30 p.m on Jan. 9, video game night Jan. 19, mechanical bull riding on-campus Jan. 25, and a casino night Jan. 27.
Voting starts Jan. 1 and continues on to Jan. 31 on the Refresh website at http://www.refresheverything.com/deanza.
