Give Water Blog: Drink Give. Do Good.

One $10,000 winner and five $1,000 runners-up
receive support!

After reviewing numerous applications, PurBlu Beverages is excited to announce that GTECH Strategies is the winner of the $10,000 GIVE Energy Pittsburgh Prize. Five runners-up will also receive $1,000 sponsorships to support their work in sustainable and alternative energy.

GIVE Energy, an all-natural energy drink on a mission, collaborated with The Sprout Fund, an enterprising Pittsburgh nonprofit, to conduct the GIVE Energy Pittsburgh Prize, a contest for alternative energy funding.

Winner ($10,000)

Growth Through Energy + Community Health (GTECH) Strategies was awarded $10,000 to help launch ReFuel Pgh. ReFuel Pgh is a social venture that will expand collection efforts of wasted cooking oil as feedstock for biodiesel, increase alternative energy awareness and minimize local environmental liabilities. The program connects low-income youth to tangible educational, training employment opportunities in the green economy while leveraging GTECH’s existing vacant land reclamation efforts through bioenergy crops.
The GIVE Energy Pittsburgh Prize will be used to purchase commercial truck and convert it to run on biodiesel. The truck will collect waste cooking oil from local sources, demonstrate how alternative fuels work, and promote renewable energy production in communities throughout the Pittsburgh region.

Runners-Up ($1,000 organizational sponsorships)

• Bike Pittsburgh is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to transform Pittsburgh into a city that is increasingly safe, accessible, and friendly to bicycle transportation.
• East Liberty Development, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that seeks to foster the revitalization of the East Liberty community by providing leadership in planning, advocacy, sustainability, image building, and investment.
• New Sun Rising is an all‐volunteer nonprofit organization created in 2005 as an empowering response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast and local 2004 flooding in Millvale, PA. New Sun Rising launches projects to positively impact cultural, environmental and social wellness.
• PennFuture is a nonprofit organization that works to create a just future where nature, communities and the economy thrive. PennFuture advances effective solutions for the problems of pollution, sprawl and global warming; mobilizes citizens; crafts compelling communications; and provides legal services and policy analysis.
• The Pittsburgh Climate Initiative (PCI), managed by the Green Building Alliance, guides the implementation of the Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan. PCI seeks to raise awareness and engage Allegheny County’s residents, businesses, government, and institutions of higher learning in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, their impact on the local economy, and human wellbeing.

Background

Created by Pittsburgh-based PurBlu Beverages, GIVE Energy is a refreshing and invigorating all-natural fuel for the brain and body – a clean, sustainable source of energy. For each can sold, ten cents is contributed to grassroots sustainable and alternative energy initiatives such as wind turbines and solar panels. The Pittsburgh market served as a pilot for the Energy Prize by testing the level of consumer support, success of the nomination process, and the quality of projects supported.

The brainchild of Pittsburgh native Ben Lewis, GIVE has triggered a movement of consumer philanthropy across the country. GIVE Energy builds on the success of the company’s first venture, GIVE Water.

“Energy is an issue that is important to a lot of people, many of whom may not be able to make a significant contribution to the field,” says Lewis. “But if you can get a whole bunch of people to give, you can multiply the effect of even the smallest donation.”

By encouraging consumers to invest locally, GIVE will catalyze several energy initiatives in the Pittsburgh area and future contest markets. Distributed in thousands of outlets across the US and Canada, both GIVE Energy and GIVE Water donate to nonprofits serving areas where products are sold.