Aquarium of Niagara fishing for support to win Pepsi grant

Local News

Related Photos

Aquarium of Niagara Executive Director Nancy Chapin stands among the sharks. The Aquarium needs supporters to text the number 102344 to the Pepsi Corporation at 73774 to try and win a $50,000 grant which will be put towards a coral reef project. (Dan Cappellazzo/Photo)

October 21, 2010

By Nick Mattera Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Thu Oct 21, 2010, 10:14 PM EDT

NIAGARA FALLS — The Aquarium of Niagara is hoping a boost in public support will help it win a competitive $50,000 grant to create a living coral reef.

The grant being administered through the Pepsi Refresh project allocates funding to different organizations, individuals or ideas based on the number of votes the project receives in a one-month period.

Aquarium Director of Development Gay B. Molnar said the aquarium hosts 235,000 visitors annually and is in dire need of votes from residents across Niagara and Eric counties.

If awarded, the grant would aid in educating visitors about environmental and economic importance of reefs, establish a coral research and propagation/reproduction program and educate visitors about how recent climate changes are a severe threat to the existence of coral reefs — all in an 800-gallon living reef exhibit.

The reef exhibit, which Molnar said would not be financially possible without the grant, would feature an array of corals, fish, and invertebrates and be created utilizing space currently housing two outdated exhibits.

There are a handful of different ways people can vote for the coral reef project and require access to a computer or a cell phone. You can vote directly on Pepsi’s grant website, www.refresheverything.com/niagarareefproject, or by accessing the Aquarium of Niagara’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/aquariumofniagara. Votes can also be sent by cell phones by texting the number 102344 to 73774.

Molnar wants to use the grant to give local residents and visitors an opportunity to see a living coral reef, while teaching of their importance at the same time.

“Some people will never ever be able to see a living coral reef, also with us being an educational facility part of the component is the ability to teach people about how coral reefs live, what is in their environment,” Molnar said. “We really need the support of everyone ... to help us achieve this very very important project.”

Pepsi awards 10 grants in different categories each month to the projects which garner the most votes. Currently, the Aquarium is currently ranked 94 in terms of votes received and would need to stay in the top 100 at the end of October to stay in the running for the grant in November.

Molnar said she believes with the support of local residents the Aquarium can begin climbing the charts over the next two weeks. People can cast up to 10 votes on any given day.

“Vote for us, support us, vote, vote, vote,” Molnar said. “Vote every day, vote every time you log onto your computer. This will be a tremendous project for this community and we need the support.”

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Local News

Legislation protecting Falls air base units moves forward
The effort to protect jobs at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station got a boost from a committee in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Korean student robbed at gunpoint in Falls
Detectives are investigating the robbery of a 25-year-old woman Wednesday night in front of a motel in the 400 block of Main Street.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Davis will not seek Murphy removal
Lawyers for accused killer Matthew “Bones” Davis say their client will not ask to have Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III removed from his case.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Labor group laments economic development efforts
Economic development in New York state has become a joke to some in the area. And many of them are demanding changes to a process which spends approximately $3 billion a year.

May 24, 2012
Repaving work on Old Military Road rises to $790K
Sometimes a change is good. Sometimes a change is bad. For the Town of Lewiston, a change can be pretty costly.

May 24, 2012
Fifth-grader presents list of 400 names asking for new playground
A 10-year-old boy carrying a petition containing more than 400 signatures asked members of the Niagara Falls School Board on Thursday to consider building a new playground at his school.

May 24, 2012
Bomb threat leads to arrest at NT school
A North Tonawanda teen was arrested Thursday morning for sending a one-sentence bomb threat to the computer of a fellow high school student, resulting in a brief lockdown of the school.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Sense of resignation on AES pact
May 24, 2012
Marching to the new veterans memorial
It's the unofficial beginning of summer.

Memorial Day may mean cookouts with hot dogs and hamburgers, a trip on the river in a boat or simply a day off from work Monday.

May 24, 2012 2 Photos
Fugitive in meth case caught
Moments after Falls police narcotics detectives and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents uncovered a clandestine meth lab in the city's Echota neightborhood, their prime suspect sent a cryptic text message to Detective Joe Palmero.

May 24, 2012 2 Photos
More Local News Headlines

Do you think cigarette sales to non-Native American customers should be taxed on reservations?