Strength in Numbers

Pepsi has been sponsoring a contest called the Pepsi Refresh Project . They are giving away $1.3 million dollars monthly to organizations, people, businesses, and non-profits ideas who submit applications. They are awarding grants of $5K, $25K, $50K and $250K. Each grant catergory has a set amount of possible awardees. Only 1000 applications are eligible each month. The National PKU Alliance submitted an application for a chance to win one of the $50K grants being awarded in July (voting begins the month after the application is submitted). Unfortunately, the NPKU didn't win a grant in July however the top 100 runners-up from each category were automatically transferred over to the next month's voting period which brings us to this month.


The PKU community banded together and through numerous campaigns we asked all we knew to vote. Many of us used social networks like Facebook and Twitter to ask our family and friends for support. Emails and Texts were sent asking people to vote on a daily basis. Voting was allowed 1x per day via Facebook, Twitter or the Pepsi Refresh page. All of our family and friends can vouch for my relentless, daily "harassing" texts and emails!

Well, it paid off! WE DID IT! The NPKUA was 4th place! Unbelievable! Awesome! Amazing!

The following is from an email sent by the NPKUA:

We just received official word from Pepsi that we won our $50,000 grant for PKU research! WHOHOO!

The modern day Plato, Miley Cyrus (He!He!) tells us:
"I can see it. That dream I'm dreaming... Ain't about how fast I get there. Ain't about what's waiting on the other side. It's the climb."
Our dream is a cure for PKU. And while that is our ultimate goal, during this Pepsi Refresh Project, it has truly been about the climb. And on this climb we have made a lot of friends, had a lot of help, and voted a lot of times.
We'd like to take this time to thank everyone that has made our climb possible and so much more rewarding.

Thank you to Pepsi for offering us the opportunity to compete. Pepsi Refresh is truly an ingenious usage of social media marketing, and we are so proud to have been a part of this grand experiment.
Thank you to our partner organizations that worked with us to get votes. Between sharing marketing strategies, promoting our project, and voting like mad, these organizations truly positioned us as a strong competitor and for that we are forever grateful.

Thank you to all of the individuals, families, clinics and PKU companies and industry that helped us get the message out. We may be a rare disease, but this project testifies to the awesome power of all of us working together for a common goal and what we can achieve.
Thank you to everyone that voted for this project and worked so hard to get others to vote. We never would have made it over the mountaintop without your constant support. We are truly grateful and are inspired by the amazing (and often humorous) things you did to get votes. Your tireless efforts will support us as we continue to climb towards a cure for PKU.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Finally, we want to thank Sarah Testa, the amazing young woman that submitted the proposal to Pepsi. Margaret Mead must have had Sarah in mind when she wrote about the impact a single person can have. Sarah's efforts have not only resulted in $50,000 for PKU research, but in an amazing increase in the awareness of PKU around the world. Please know that we are forever grateful.

To say 'thank you' just doesn't seem like enough, so we had better find a cure for PKU.

On behalf of our family, especially for an amazing little boy, I would like to say thank you to all our family and friends who voted. Regardless if it was one time or daily, you helped make a difference. For that, we too are forever grateful.