Paralyzed Veterans Needs Your Vote to Win $250,000 Grant From Pepsi Refresh Project

/PRNewswire/ -- Beginning September 1, Paralyzed Veterans of America will begin competing for a $250,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project. Grant funds will be used to support Paralyzed Veterans of America's adaptive sports and recreation programs. Each month, Pepsi selects groups working to "refresh the world" to compete for grants to fund their programs, and then invites the public to vote online for the winners.

Paralyzed Veterans of America will use the grant funds to sponsor 50 newly injured or wounded veterans to participate in adaptive sports and recreation programs, including the National Veterans Wheelchair Games--the largest annual wheelchair sports event in the world; support 33 adaptive sports tournaments around the country, in such activities as bass fishing, trapshooting, bowling and billiards; and support five adaptive sports instructional clinics to train paralyzed veterans in adaptive sports.

"Sports and recreation are an integral part of rehabilitation for our injured and disabled veterans," said Andy Krieger, director of sports and recreation at Paralyzed Veterans of America. "Competition, camaraderie and achieving new goals from a wheelchair have immeasurable long-term health and fitness benefits."

Voters may vote once a day through September 30. To cast your vote for Paralyzed Veterans of America, go to http://www.refresheverything.com/paralyzedveterans. Voters may also cast their vote via mobile text message* by texting 102657 to 73774. (*Please note that standard text messaging rates may apply.)

Sixty-four years ago Paralyzed Veterans of America was founded by a band of spinal cord injured service members who returned home from World War II to a grateful nation--but also to a world with few solutions to the challenges they faced. These veterans from the "Greatest Generation" made a decision not just to live, but to live with dignity as contributors to society. They created an organization dedicated to veterans service, medical research and civil rights for people with disabilities. And for more than six decades, Paralyzed Veterans of America and its 34 chapters have been working to create an America where all veterans and people with disabilities, and their families, have everything they need to thrive. (www.pva.org).

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200 American POWs and MIAs from 33 States and 5 Wars to be Honored at National POW/MIA Recognition Weekend in Andersonville, GA, Sept. 16-18, 2010

/PRNewswire/ -- Rolling Thunder®'s 2010 Ride Home, a multi-day annual activity held in conjunction with the Andersonville National Historic Site and the Friends of Andersonville to recognize and honor the nation's Prisoners of War (POW) and those still Missing in Action (MIA), will be held in Andersonville and Americus, GA, Sept. 16-18, 2010.

Hundreds of Rolling Thunder members are expected to gather to honor an estimated 200 former POWs/MIA family members from around the country who are scheduled to attend this year's program of events as guests of Rolling Thunder. A highlight of this year's activities is the presence of the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall, which will be escorted by Rolling Thunder to the Andersonville National Historic Site where it will remain on display for 10 days.

This year's events will also include, for the first time, representatives of the American Gold Star Mothers, an organization founded in 1928 to remember and honor mothers who have lost sons or daughters in service to the United States. The organization was named after the Gold Star that families hung in their windows in honor of the deceased veteran.

Complete details on all events can be found on The Ride Home website. The national organization, Rolling Thunder®, Inc. was organized in 1987 to raise awareness of POW, MIA and Veterans rights issues. It is known for its annual demonstration "Ride For Freedom" in Washington, D.C. during Memorial Day weekend. For more information visit the National Rolling Thunder website.

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