Project Sweet Peas featured on Good Morning America:
Indiana Senate Certificate of Achievement
Project Sweet Peas featured on WPXI in Pittsburgh, PA:
Grantee Story: A Warm Embrace for Parents of Struggling Newborns
By: Mallika Chopra of GOOD
Three mothers started Project Sweet Peas in July 2007. Their mission was simple: to provide care packages to families with newborn infants in the Intensive Care Unit. The care packages consist of a tote bag with a photo album, a camera, baby clothes, a hand-foot mold and puzzle books for parents spending many nervous days at the hospital.
The care packages also contain packets of tissue, for the many tears shed waiting for a newborn child to come out of the ICU safe and sound.
Project Sweet Peas has now grown to 15 local chapters across the country. As the recipient of a $25,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant, Project Sweet Peas will be using the majority of the funds to create more care packages for more families. Some funding will also go towards “starter-kits” so anyone interested in starting a local chapter will have enough items to fill six gift bags for six families.
Megan Skaggs became involved with Project Sweet Peas when she came across its website shortly after the death of her newborn son, who spent 35 days in the ICU. She knows first-hand how receiving a small care package during an emotionally draining time can make a huge impact.
“When my son was in the ICU, I received a care package from an organization that supports people that have the same birth defect that my son had,” Megan says. “The care package was minimal- just some reading material on the birth defect and a baby blanket. But even that little care package made a big difference.”
Through the Pepsi Refresh grant, Project Sweet Peas will also be using some of the money to expedite the process of becoming officially recognized as a non-profit. Megan says her involvement with Project Sweet Peas is an opportunity for her to dedicate herself to a good cause in the memory of her son.
“It’s very healing for both my husband and I. I’m getting to keep my son as a part of my every day life, and I’m getting so many people who never would have known about my son now know about him through my work with Project Sweet Peas,” Megan says.
Like many of the Refresh projects that go onto become winners, perhaps it was the personal story behind the project that touched so many people and compelled them to vote.
“I think the thing that helped was the video we made about Project Sweet Peas,” Megan says. “Out of the 15 of us that have started a local project, 12 of us have lost our babies. I think that was probably the most compelling thing that got people to vote-here is this group of women who have gone through the worst tragedy that anybody can ever imagine, and look at what they want to do.”
Contact:Erin Byram
212-445-8174
ebyram@webershandwick.com
PEPSI AND LINPEPCO ANNOUNCE LOCAL GRANT RECIPIENT OF
PEPSI REFRESH PROJECT
– Project Sweet Pea Awarded $25,000 to Provide Care Packages
for Families Who Have a Baby In The ICU –
Topeka, KS – May 3, 2010 – Just in time for Mother’s Day, the Pepsi Refresh Project, a groundbreaking effort that funds ideas, big and small, that can refresh the world, announced today that Project Sweet Pea of Topeka, KS received the most votes in April and is on track to be collectively awarded a $25,000 grant to provide care packages to families who have an infant in the ICU. In 2010, Pepsi is awarding more than $20 million to ideas that will move the world forward. Anyone can submit an idea at www.RefreshEverything.com and each month the public decides who wins.
Americans voted for over 1,000 ideas from April 1 through April 30 at www.refresheverything.com. With the April ideas’ votes tallied, Pepsi is working with partners at Global Giving and GOOD to ensure that each idea qualifies to receive funding. Once approved, each idea will have the opportunity to be put into action.
“The Pepsi Refresh Project is about people like you and me coming up with ideas that will refresh the world. Project Sweet Pea, our local winner, is helping families that are going through the toughest times of their lives,” said Pat O’Donnell, General Manager, LinPepCo. “We hope that their dedication to this cause inspires others in our community to get started on a refreshing project they believe in.”
Voters at www.RefreshEverything.com agreed that Project Sweet Pea’s idea is a compelling one: Project Sweet Pea offers a variety comfort kits to hospitals for parents who are going through the stress of caring for a child in intensive care. Project Sweet Pea has a basic Neonatal/Pediatric Intensive Care Unit bag which includes basic items such as journals, crossword puzzles, books, and baby blankets. A Long-Term Neonatal/Pediatric Intensive Care Unit bag aimed at families whose stay at the hospital is longer than expected and includes additional items like toothbrushes, deodorant, and gift cards.
“The stress of having a child in intensive care is unimaginable to most people,” said Mallika Chopra, Pepsi Refresh Health Ambassador. “Something as small as a gift bag with every day items will help make tough times a little easier for these parents.
The Pepsi Refresh Project is an evolution of the Refresh Everything initiative Pepsi launched in 2009, which showed the brand as a catalyst for optimism. In 2010, Pepsi is funding ideas that will move the world forward in six categories: Health, Arts & Culture, Food & Shelter, The Planet, Neighborhoods and Education. The Pepsi Refresh Project will feature significant social engagement around people and the power of ideas.
To implement the project, Pepsi has partnered with three organizations dedicated to making a positive difference in the world: GOOD, a leading platform for thought and action revolving around pushing the world forward; Global Giving, an online marketplace that connects people who have community and world-changing ideas with people who can support them; and Do Something, the largest non-profit teen charity.
The Pepsi Refresh Project can be found at www.RefreshEverything.com or find more information on Facebook at www.facebook.com/refresheverything and Twitter, @Pepsi or #pepsirefresh.