Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo Inc. made its second $500,000 donation from its Dream Machine recycling initiative to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV) with Disabilities, a national program offering career training, education and job creation for post-9/11 U.S. veterans with disabilities. PepsiCo presented the check during a ceremony following the first quarter of the Veterans Day football game at Syracuse University, which is home to the Whitman School of Management and Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) that operates the EBV program.
Through the Dream Machine initiative, PepsiCo is committed to contributing $500,000 each year to EBV. The Dream Machine recycling initiative was created by PepsiCo in collaboration with Waste Management and Keep America Beautiful. The initiative has introduced thousands of recycling kiosks and bins at popular public locations across North America. The kiosks are computerized receptacles that include a personal reward system powered by Greenopolis, which allows consumers to earn points for every bottle or can they recycle in the kiosk. Those points can then be redeemed for local discounts on entertainment, dining and travel by visiting www.greenopolis.com.
The more plastic bottles and aluminum cans Americans recycle in Dream Machine kiosks and bins across the nation, the more support PepsiCo will provide to the EBV. For every 10 million pounds of recycled material collected, PepsiCo will contribute an additional $250,000.
“PepsiCo’s support of the EBV has been vital to the program’s growth,” said Mike Haynie, EBV founder and IVMF executive director and Barnes Professor of Entrepreneurships at Syracuse University’s Whitman School, in a statement. “We are thankful for the public and private support EBV has received. This week, we were thrilled to announce the addition of Cornell University to our consortium of universities. It’s my hope that more organizations will step forward to adopt the Dream Machine recycling program so that together, we can continue to make a difference for our veterans.”
In addition to supporting U.S. veterans with disabilities through the Dream Machine program, PepsiCo continues to support national veteran-related causes including American Corporate Partners and the Bob Woodruff Foundation. PepsiCo also offers Valor, an employee resource group that aims to recognize, appreciate and support military veterans, their families and communities in which they live and work.
