Members of SIFE Brandon Need Local Support, Online Voting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 2, 2010

MEMBERS OF SIFE NEED LOCAL SUPPORT, ONLINE VOTING

BRANDON, MB – The members of Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) at Brandon University are thrilled to announce their participation in the Pepsi Refresh Program. Pepsi is currently hosting a series of voter-based competitions to give various organizations funding to build projects that benefit their communities.

SIFE Brandon, a non-profit organization, has applied for consideration in this competition with its current project “Green Futures”, a community garden initiative that provides forty-five raised beds providing more than 2,100 square feet of growing space to families throughout the East End of Brandon. As well, SIFE Brandon has been working alongside Grade 5 and 6 students attending King George School, a local elementary school in the area, to teach them during the summer about organic growing and the economic benefits of growing versus buying their produce.

“It was pretty incredible to see the economic situation in the East End. Working with the children meant a lot. It was a great experience. They were some of the nicest kids I’ve ever met,” said Jonathan Fung, a fourth year business student at BU and the current president of SIFE Brandon. “There was a definitive need for this type of program in this area of Brandon and it was amazing to see the kids’ dedication to this project.”

In its pilot year, this urban garden project provided in excess of 850 lbs of fresh produce during the growing season to the participating families. This year, the members of SIFE hope to expand “Green Futures” even further by creating another 88 garden beds, or 4,200 sq. ft of growing space, in the northern part of the city.

The Pepsi Refresh Grant is worth $25,000, which is the amount necessary to cover the cost of materials’ of these new beds. Therefore, SIFE Brandon is asking that everyone vote once a day from November 1 until December 31, to see this new project come to fruition, thanks to the Pepsi Refresh Program.

“This Refresh grant would ensure that we could cover the cost of materials, the greatest expense for the new development in the North End of the city,” said CJ Grambo, project manager of Green Futures. “These new beds will greatly increase the amount of families positively impacted by ‘Green Futures’.”

This academic year, there are 30 students — from freshmen to graduate students — involved in SIFE Brandon, several of whom have just returned from a conference held in Los Angeles. They not only aim to contribute to the community through various projects, but work with local business leaders to learn through the experience.

If you want more information on SIFE Brandon please visit us at sifebrandon.com and voting is available at refresheverything.ca. From SIFE Brandon, we thank you for your support.
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For more information, please contact:

Joanne F. Villeneuve
Communication Officer
Brandon University
P: (204) 727-9762
communications@brandonu.ca

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