Pepsi Refresh Project

Pepsi is having a contest called Pepsi Refresh Project –  for those who are attending SXSW (South by Southwest).  Since I just found out I am going to get to go to SXSW I entered the contest.  It would be so cool to see this come to fruition.  My friend Debbie is the one who works at a food pantry.  She has told me how important it is to give cash instead of cans for food drives. She is also in the process of developing a web site called “Set Another Place.org”. It should up and running by the end of the month. It will focus on raising money for your local food pantries.

She has referred me to a site called Cash Feeds More that the guy has a funny rap to help you understand why.

You can enter to win on Consumer Queen if you are going to SXSW.  The Consumer Queen will pick one winner from her site of what she feels is the best idea. She will then represent that person at SXSW and campaign for them to win the Pepsi Refresh Project. Whoot Whoot…cheer me on!!

Here is my entry video.

Sears Hometown Stores’ Food Drive

The Sears Hometown Stores are holding their 4th annual food drive. These food drives will benefit the local communities that store is located in. The one that is closest to me is the Mt. Vernon, Ohio store. The food collected will either go to the Mid Ohio Food Bank for Knox county or it will go to local food pantries in that area throughout the months of November and December.

The Mt Vernon Sears Hometown Store will receive donations of canned and boxed non-perishable food items November 8 through December 31.
To find a store nearest you go to Sears Hometown Stores. (There are about 950 of them)
In the past 3 years they have collected more than 250,000 non-perishable food items throughout these stores.

Here is a quote from the press release I received:
“We welcome the opportunity to host this event again,” said Marty Kozar, CMO/DVP for
Sears Hometown Stores. “We feel privileged to join in a local effort to lend a hand to those
experiencing hardship in our communities, and want to encourage our customers to open their
hearts and their cupboards to this initiative.”
You can donate non-perishable canned and boxed food, cleaning, diapers and paper products in the donation boxes at your local Sears Hometown store during business hours.
**Now here is the bonus – For being so generous and helping others, Sears is going to help you. You will get a discount off your bill. How great is that? Thanks Sears.

If you do not live near a Sears Hometown Store you can make your donations (cash or food) to your local food pantry.

Disclosure: Sears Hometown Stores have provided me with information for this article. They have not paid for this post nor given me any form of compensation for this post.

Walmart Gives Back! A real life Santa Claus!

Walmart is a massive company. They don’t have to do anything to help others….but guess what? They are. The Walmart Gives Back Holiday Campaign this holiday season is giving $32 million. There are several things they are doing….Check them out!
Here is a video that shows the big kick off.

Walmart (foundation) has provided 35 refrigerated trucks to bring food to 35 different food banks across America. That is a lot of food people! There will be Walmarts Great Value products along with fresh apples. This will provide families with food to prepare their Thanksgiving meal. Something that so many of us take for granted. Watch the video of some of the people this helps. There are so many people that depend on these food banks to feed their families. Most of them are just having tough times due to this economy. We all hope that we never have to use a food bank ourselves, but I’m sure all those who are now depending on them….used to feel the same way. Thank goodness there are companies as generous as Walmart Foundation to help.

They are also donating a $2.2 million grant to help fund 140 Meals on Wheels member programs across the nation that serve seniors. Wow! I have seen how these programs help many people. I was organizing a client and she had a husband who was disabled by a stroke. She was soooo thankful for the Meals on Wheels program. She worked full time and they came in once a day and provided her husband with a meal that he would have been unable to get himself while she was gone. That is just one family of millions that this program has helped.

Walmart is really impressing me. Not only are they doing all of the above, but they are working with the Military families and they are having the Salvation Army Bell Ringers back to their stores this holiday season.
Thanks Walmart!!

Disclosure: As part of the More Than Eleven Moms Group, Walmart provides me with news and company  information that you will see in this blog post.