LaredoBuzz.Com

Courtesy Xochitl Mora,

Online grant applications can help bring bookstore back to Laredo

 (Laredo, TX – August 3, 2010)  Mary Benavides may have a petite frame, but her determination to bring a bookstore back to Laredo, is super-sized.  Benavides is  looking for alternative funding mechanisms to help bring a bookstore back to laredo and this is where the community of Laredoans – or friends and family from around the world – can help to make her dream a reality.

 Thanks to the Pepsi Refresh Project, Benavides’ idea for Laredo Books & More Bookstore has been accepted as one of the ideas competing for a grant award; in this case, for a $250,000 start-up grant. But the only way to win is for people to vote – via the Internet or mobile phone – and the deadline is on August 31, 2010.

 To vote online, visit www.laredobooksandmore.com and select the Vote button.  Text 101933 to PEPSI (73774); standard messaging rates apply. Supporters of Laredo Books & More can vote once per day, via each option, until August 31.  Only the top two vote getters will receive the grant award. 

 Another world wide web option to help support Laredo Books & More and also has a deadline looming at the end of the month is the $30,000 grant application from Love a Local Business.  This project is designed to help local businesses also grow and impact their community.  Log on to http://lovealocalbusiness.intuit.com, and select the I’m a Fan of a Local Business icon, and on the map, find the heart that reads Laredo Books & More.  Click on the icon, and follow the short menu to sign up and vote.  Vote everyday to help raise the profile of this business so that it may also win this award.

 For more help regarding voting on either of the sites, questions or more information, please call (956) 231-9821.