Marine sanctuary to ‘refresh’ grant hopes

Supporters soon should be able to vote to award the Navarre Beach Marine Sanctuary a $50,000 grant through the Pepsi Refresh project, according to a sanctuary organizer.

“We’ve been pre-approved, we should receive confirmation at midnight,” said Mark Griffith, co-chairman of the Navarre Beach Marine Sanctuary Committee, during a phone interview Tuesday.

Pepsi is giving away $1.3 million per month in 2010 “to fund great ideas that ‘refresh’ communities,” according to a news release from the company. The Pepsi Refresh Everything website accepts 1,000 applications each month. People can vote up to three times per project per day: once at the Pepsi website, once on Facebook and once via text message.

For more on this story, check out the Dec. 2 edition of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.