Some of you reading this may already know about Pepsi Refresh…for those of you that don’t it’s basically this project where Pepsi is giving away millions of dollars to fund different projects that “refresh the world”. The non-profit arts organization I’m a part of Big Car, is trying to get $25,000 to help transform the Lafayette Square area by opening a community creativity space in an abandoned Firestone Tire Service Center. The space will be called Service Center for Contemporary Culture and Community. “Service Center is a community art center designed to spark real change in an area of Indianapolis poised for amazing improvement. Through creative approaches, Service Center addresses many of the issues facing Indianapolis: education, mass transit, art and culture, diversity, libraries, urban gardening, recycling, and economic development.” Receiving this monetary gift from Pepsi would help a lot of our ideas become a reality.

It only takes a little bit of effort, a little bit of time to contribute to change and improve an area of Indianapolis that could really use it. Spread the word about Service Center and the Pepsi Refresh project. Vote, not once, but every day. Make it a habit just like getting on Facebook has become a daily habit for most of us. In the end if we win, you can say you helped. You can say you made a difference. Let’s continue to make this city better than the day before.

Here’s what our Executive Director Jim Walker had to say about the project…

“How cool would it be to get Pepsi to fund programs at the new Service Center for Culture and Community? Music, art, education, urban gardening, community building. It’s all happening at Service Center — all in the Lafayette Square neighborhood that will really benefit from this boost. And you can help Service Center receive $25,000 from Pepsi, just by voting daily online.

We feel really good about our chances. We are in 13th place now and the top 15 receive funding. But we have a long, long way to go!

Vote at: http://www.refresheverything.com/servicecenter and text to vote by sending 106734 to 73774. You can vote twice by logging on via Facebook too.
Here are some tips on how you can help:

In order to receive the money from Pepsi, we need be one of the top 15 vote recipients in this month’s Pepsi Refresh voting cycle. You can help us by voting every day in June! Here’s how:

LOGIN WITH FACEBOOK – Go to http://www.refresheverything.com/servicecenter . At the bottom of the page, on the left, click on “sign in”. Then click on the “Login with Facebook” logo. Click on the “Vote for this” bubble. Come back daily and vote!
SIGN IN WITH PEPSI – First you must get a Pepsi account. (Don’t worry, they won’t send you any e-mails unless you check the boxes at the bottom.) Go to http://www.refresheverything.com/servicecenter . At the bottom of the page, on the left, click on “sign in”. At the bottom of the sign in window, click on “sign up”. Go back to http://www.refresheverything.com/servicecenter . Click on the “Vote for this” bubble. Come back daily and vote! If you have a Facebook login and a Pepsi login you can vote twice each day! Plus one more if you text.
TEXT TO VOTE: It’s easy and Pepsi doesn’t do spam texts or anything, ever. Just text 106734 to 73774 to vote for Service Center from your cell phone. You can text a vote every day.
POWER VOTES – You must be registered with Pepsi to use Power Votes. These are codes printed on yellow bottle caps found on 20 ounce and 2 liter bottles of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max. Codes are also printed on the inside of specially marked multi-pack cartons. Once you have the codes, go to http://www.refresheverything.com/servicecenter and sign in. Click on Power Vote and enter UP TO TEN Power Vote codes daily. Each cap is good only once, but you can enter 10 different caps. The number of votes you get per code is randomly selected, but each code can be worth up to 100 votes. NOTE: People who bring more than 10 used Power Vote caps will receive a thank you work of art from a Big Car artist.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD – contact your friends, co-workers and relatives via Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, whatever, and ask them to PLEASE vote every day for Big Car and Service Center! We have to be in the top 15 in the $25,000 category to get the Pepsi grant. We feel great about our chances.
Also… we are rolling this into a larger fundraising campaign that will continue over the summer. Here are the details:

Service Center Community Capital Campaign

The nonprofit arts organization Big Car is launching a summer-long campaign to raise funds for programs at Service Center for Contemporary Culture + Community, a new 11,500 square foot creativity-based community center with a communal garden on top of its front parking lot. Open since May and rolling out in phases, Service Center is dedicated to helping improve the Lafayette Square neighborhood. And Service Center will become a grassroots hub for art, culture, education, mass transit and diversity in the heart of Indianapolis. Service Center is also a base of operations for the nonprofit creative writing and educational organization Second Story and will house performances and programs by various other arts and community groups.

You can support the future of Service Center by:
• voting for the project here: http://www.refresheverything.com/servicecenter each day in June.
• making tax-deductible a donation to Big Car via paypal here: http://tinyurl.com/bigcar2011
• mailing a tax-deductible donation via check payable to Big Car at Service Center 3919 Lafayette Rd. Indianapolis IN 46254

You can follow Service Center on Facebook to keep track of the latest news here: http://www.facebook.com/servicecenterindy

Thanks!
Jim

As a 501c3 nonprofit, Big Car sparks creative ideas and produces cultural events and projects that help make Indianapolis a better place. Watch a short video about Big Car at www.vimeo.com/20358886.”