The effort to post an appeal for $50,000 on the Pepsi Refresh website to enhance the Mediator Mentors project at California State University, Fresno was unsuccessful because of the volume of other projects being posted for August.
Mediator Mentors trains university students for service at 60 elementary and middle schools in the Fresno, Clovis, Central, Sanger and Chowchilla Unified districts mentoring peer mediators in strategies for peaceful conflict resolution.
There’s enough funding to support only 30 mentors each semester with stipends, said program director Dr. Pamela Lane-Garon, a professor of education in the Kremen School of Education and Human Development. She wants to take advantage of the Pepsi Refresh program launched earlier this year.
Each month 1,000 ideas are accepted from individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations needing funds for health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and education projects. Visitors to www.refresheverything.com are invited to vote for up to 10 ideas per day during the month to determine eligibility for grants of $5,000-$250,000.
When the time came for posting late Saturday, July 31, material was sent to the website, only to be rejected because too many others had been accepted already for August. The Mediator Mentors project will try to launch its appeal for September.
For more information, contact Kristie Ross at kristieaross@mail.fresnostate.edu or Lane-Garon atpamelalg@csufresno.edu.
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