Local Pepsi project doesn’t make the cut

The Tallahassee educator with local ties involved in the Pepsi Refresh Project — a nationwide grant program — did not receive enough votes last month to win the grant.
Donna Salters, originally  from Havana, was hoping to bring an entrepreneurship program to the youth of both Jackson and Gadsden counties with the award of a $250,000 grant from the Pepsi Company.
But out of about 550 applicants, she ranked 196 in the amount of votes, putting her out of the running for May’s award.
As the business development coordinator for the Rural Entrepreneurial Project at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Salters had hoped to bring more of her expertise to the area.
She has been working with Jackson County students on the basic lessons of entrepreneurship over the past few years. But she says due to a lack of financial support, her current program isn’t having much of an impact. So she applied for the Pepsi grant last April, and got word that she was in the running for May.
Community members were then urged to visit the project website and vote for Salters’ “YES!” (Youth Entrepreneurs Succeed) project.
But evidently, that wasn’t enough.
YES! is designed to teach concepts of entrepreneurship in Jackson and Gadsden counties.
Salters’ project curriculum is hands on, as well as an interactive computer program. Salters’ said her program would focus on various topics — what is an entrepreneur, social responsibility and community, creativity, risk taking and perseverance.  
Each student would be taught the basic lessons of investment and how it can be beneficial. In addition, each student would also open a bank account and be taught how to monitor their money and watch it grow by investing.
“The problem isn’t with the program, it was with my marketing and public relations efforts,” Salters said Wednesday. “I still believe in this program and this idea, and so do members of our communities; it just needed more attention.”
Salters said she plans to resubmit her application to the Pepsi Refresh Project July 1 and if accepted, enter the running for a second time, for the month of August.
“The key is public relations,” Salters said. “It was something I didn’t have enough of last time. I want to involve school boards, the business community of both counties, and make appearances at public events.”
Salters said she refuses to give up. Even if this particular grant doesn’t work out, she will still continue with the YES! project.
Salters believes another disadvantage was the strong competition.
“The other problem is that you’re competing with communities far more vast that both Jackson and Gadsden County combined, which in my opinion isn’t fair,” Salters said.
But regardless of the efforts made, and discouraging amount of work still to be done, Salters swears she will continue.
“I’m going to spend as much time and effort as I can over the next few months to raise awareness for the YES! project,” Salters said. “I plan to involve both counties and hopefully receive help from my students here at Florida A&M.”
Even with Salters determination for the August vote, nothing will be possible if her project isn’t accepted in July.
Although this Pepsi-funded grant allows anyone with a good idea for their community to apply, the real hurtle to overcome is the initial application submittal.
Salters said getting the application turned in within the window period is quite a challenge. Although the application acceptance period is technically a three-day window, Salters says so many people apply, it is actually only a 15-minute window, before the maximum amount of applications is reached.
Therefore, as long as she is able to manage getting her application, Salters says she is confident in a new campaign strategy for the YES! project’s success.