April 25, 2010
Pepsi contest rewards community projects
A Memphis grassroots organization that advocates public skate parks is backing the Binghampton Development Corp.'s bid to win $250,000 for a park in the neighborhood.
Pepsi, through its site refresheverything.com, is awarding two organizations, people or businesses grants of up to $250,000 every month for one year for ideas that will have a positive impact on their communities.
"Memphis is two places from the bottom among the U.S. for the amount of money spent per person for parks and recreation," said Dr. Aaron Shafer, founder of the nonprofit Skatelife Memphis and a researcher at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. "This is an incredible opportunity for churches to cooperate together and bring in some funds for their communities."
On Saturday, the Binghampton Development Corp. -- under the headline "Get our kids Moving! Build a skate park for inner-city Memphis youth" -- was ranked No. 16 among "Current Leaders" in the $250,000 category. Voting ends April 30 ... (read more)
