The Leesville Band’s instruments are eighteen years old, and the band students are determined to replace them. They plan to achieve this feat by winning a $25,000 grant from the Pepsi corporation.
The grant is a part of the Pepsi Refresh Project. The project promises to give hefty grants to any “ideas” that gather enough votes to become a finalist. Pepsi has four sizes of grants to offer: $5k, $10k, $25k and $50k. The band wants to gather enough support in December to become a finalist for the $25,000 prize. Only about 15 of these awards are granted each month to the ideas with the most votes.
The band gained the idea to enter the competition after Broughton’s band attempted the same feat and eventually won the grant. The Pride Band decided that entering the competition would be the best way to quickly replace instruments and rushed to enter the December competiton.
A short video admission was required for entry into the competition. Andrew Wood, senior band member, helped put together this video in a mere two days. “I had to get a bunch of stuff together really quickly to make a video that accuratey represents the band,” said Wood. “I hope the video shows people the real reason why we need this grant and convince them that we’re the best idea to vote for.” (To view Wood’s entry video, click here.)
To gather enough votes, the band will need help from family, friends, neighbors, coworkers and anyone else who has a second to spare. Being over the age of 13 is the only requirement for voting.
Michael Elderkin, senior and band student director, commented, “We’ve had the same instruments since the school opened. We treated them well, but they’re definitely beginning to show wear.”
Elderkin is still committed to helping the band despite the fact that he will graduate this year. “I’m sure all seniors want to help out the band because of the profound effect this program has had on all of us,” he said.
There are four ways to vote in support of the band. The easiest is to text 110449 to “Pepsi”–73774. Standard rates apply to this text message. Participants can also vote by logging onto Facebook and voting, or registering and voting online at www.refrsheverything.com/leesvillepride. Lastly, people can vote for the band via smart phone at m.refresheverything.com.
Participants can only cast one vote through every source each day. We need to continue voting every day of December to give the Pride Band a chance at winning this grant.
Help out the Leesville Band and show our pride by consistently voting!
Katy has been on staff since her sophomore year, starting as a staff writer. With hard work and diligence, she earned a junior editor position and ultimately became Editor-in-Chief her senior year. She will pursue a degree in journalism in college.