Dear Hendrick Hudson Community,

I've been working all summer on behalf of the shelters (Hopes Door, My Sisters Place, etc.) to write a grant through the Pepsi Refresh Project that will support their efforts to work with teens and schools in our area on dating violence, as well as write a curriculum to go along with the film "For Justin". Our hope is to distribute the video, Free of Charge, to any and all HS in New York. They greatly need your HELP! If you can pass the word as well as network on their behalf, it will help thousands of teens across NY and may even save a life. Below is some information in case you are not familiar with the film or Pepsi Refresh. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your summer!

I'm an educator for over 30 years at Hendrick Hudson High School and in 2008; one of my students (Justin) went to break up with his girlfriend and was murdered. Over the past 2 years, I produced a film on the warning signs associated with teen dating violence as well as including healthy relationships so teens can also see what they should be striving for. The film is dedicated to Justin, Elizabeth and all the teens who have been murdered due to dating violence. My intentions are to distribute this film to all HS schools FREE of CHARGE, accompanied with a curriculum that goes along with the video. In order to achieve this goal, I submitted a grant on behalf of numerous domestic violence agencies and programs to the Pepsi Refresh Project in the $250,000 category so we would have the financial resources to "tighten up" the film, write the curriculum and begin the distribution process by February (in time for Teen Dating Abuse Awareness & Prevention Month). As community members, your leadership is instrumental in rallying all stake holders so that our School District will benefit from this grant. All we are asking is for everyone to give 31 minutes of their time during the month of August! The grant is awarded to the organization that garners the most votes so voting consistently every day is most important in securing these funds. In order to achieve this, you have to network with family, friends, colleagues, schools, churches, and organizations, anyone that will vote each day beginning August 1st and continue until the 31st for our grant on the Pepsi Refresh website (http://www.refresheverything.com). We need dedicated individuals who share our mission to stop teen dating violence and take the 1 minute per day to vote for our grant, as well as post information on your business bulletins, websites, clubs and other creative means to notify the school community of this information! Use email, Facebook, phone calls, whatever it takes to communicate this to people who will go to the Pepsi Refresh website and vote for our project titled "Distribute a lifesaving DVD on Teen Dating Abuse and Healthy Relations" in the $250,000 category each and every day throughout the month of August. You won't be able to see our proposal on the Pepsi Refresh website until August 1st but we need you ready to vote on that day! Please take a leadership role in our school community and let EVERYONE know about this opportunity afforded to us by Pepsi and help get our project to be #1 in the $250,000 category beginning August 1st. I've included a link to a news article that was on the front page of the Journal News on June 22nd about the film. Please support our project and allow us to use your network to secure our grant. If you have any questions, please call or email me.

Thank you.

Paul LaVallee

Paul.lavallee@henhudschools.org

(914-257-5800)

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20106220343