Project Sweet Pea wins Pepsi Refresh Grant

Project Sweet Pea Awarded $25,000 to Provide Care Packages for Families Who Have a Baby In The ICU –Share

Today at 3:07pm

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.

This and That .....

Hello everyone,
I know it has been awhile. I apologize for this :) Well Celia is now 9 mths old ( whew how time flys ) She weighs 22.9 lbs and is 30 1/4 in. long. She has mastered crawling and is now trying to walk :) She has cut 6 teeth already and loves to use them. I have updated pics.
Shawn is a great big brother. He is now recording his own music ( poor me ) in hopes to have it published one day ;)
For Drakes 2nd heavenly birthday I made a chocolate cake and Celia loved it :) I still get teary eyed just thinking of him. Sometimes I feel so alone when I know I have this look on my face and someone asks "whats wrong ?" and I just reply "nothing im fine." I dont think I am fine at all. even after 2 yrs I struggle daily. I cry most nights after everyone has gone to bed. I look at Shawn and Celia and I am greatful and blessed to have them. I guess like any mother that has lost a child, I long to hold him and cuddle him. I think that this feeling will always be there and I guess most people will never get why it doesnt subside. There is a poem that best describes the way i feel....

"I Lost My Child Today"

I lost my child today.
People came to weep and cry
As I just sat and stared, dry eyed.
They struggled to find words to say
To try and make the pain go away.
I walked the floor in disbelief.
I lost my child today.

I lost my child last month.
Most of the people went away.
Some still call and some still stay.
I wait to wake up from this dream
This can't be real--I want to scream.
Yet everything is locked inside,
God, help me, I want to die.
I lost my child last month.

I lost my child last year.
Now people who had came, have gone.
I sit and struggle all day long,
To bear the pain so deep inside.
And now my friends just question, Why?
Why does this mother not move on?
Just sits and sings the same old song.
Good heavens, it has been so long.
I lost my child last year.

Time has not moved on for me.
The numbness it has disappeared.
My eyes have now cried many tears.
I see the look upon your face,
"She must move on and leave this place."
Yet I am trapped right here in time.
The songs the same, as is the rhyme,
I lost my child......Today.

~Netta Wilson
Well sorry to vent I felt like I had to get it out . There is alot more in here that needs to come out.

On another note ..... Amy and Abby Miles came for a visit in January and It was so nice to finally get to meet Amy in person. I felt like I have known her all of my life :) I cant wait untill we can get together again !

I will post pics soon :)