Are you here looking for the latest on the Pepsi Pups? (All previous posts are here)
An update?
Keep looking.
Even the Chicago Tribune ran a No-Update Update on this whole mess.
Once again, Lea Kaydus, the founder of Animals For Autism (who is an individual and not an organization…..) is gone.
Global Giving is not giving any updates.
Pepsi, well we have already established that Pepsi doesn’t care.
Out of the original 13 families, not a single one I was able to contact has heard ANYTHING. Even though they have been calling, and emailing and ASKING for information.
Why the silence?
I would think that if the grantee is on schedule with her expected completion date, someone would be shouting that from the rooftops.
What is the secret?
Besides the fact that the grant period ended March 31st.
And I have not heard of a single well-trained service dog being delivered by Lea Kaydus.
I have heard of a very poorly trained dog being delivered to a family that was not part of the Pepsi Pups. That dog was so unsocialized and poorly trained that the family was forced to abandon all hope of using that particular dog and have had to start back with another service dog organization.
So………have you heard anything? Because the families the $50,000 grant was supposed to benefit have not.
And I know you are reading my blog.
I don’t understand why they won’t look into this… Pepsi and Global Giving were scammed, too. It would take a simple, “We are sorry for the emotional rollercoaster the families have been on. We were scammed, too, and will do all we can to help those families who paid money toward the down payment of the dogs get that money back. In the future, we will work harder to vet the winners of the Pepsi Refresh grants to ensure this does not happen again.”
Easy-peasy. Have their PR people not heard of the public fallout of Exxon Mobile (DISASTROUS public perception because they hid for days before announcing it) vs the public fallout of the Tylenol cyanide poisonings (where they immediate came out and said, “We don’t know what’s happening, but we are going to do all we can to find the problem and fix it.”). This is basic PR 101. I know. I have a degree in it, and have been doing it for more than 10 years.
Um, one there were many people who DIED and yet… the public trusts Tylenol and barely remembers the poisonings. If you say Exxon Mobile… you think Valdez oil spill.
Pepsi and Global Giving… man up. Admit the mistake. Then vow to not let it happen again. You know it’s right.
This is such a tragic injustice. I simply will never understand how Pepsi (or Global Giving) refuse to respond and do the right thing for the families…more importantly the children involved in this horrific scam. They were not only denied much needed service animals…but their families and friends were bilked out of money they had raised in advance of the Global Giving grant they were promised. I for one have not and will not purchase any Pepsi related product since this scandal erupted. Remember when looking at the Pepsi corporation this includes far more than the soda brands. We need to boycott and encourage our friends to boycott their entire product profile including Pepsi, Mt. Dew, Frito Lay, Quaker Oats, Aquafina,Gatorade, Rice o’Roni, Aunt Jemima, Sobe, Mothers, Tropicana, Sobe and Naked to name a few.
All it would take is an “I’m sorry.” A “you were right” would rank high on the list, too. I just can’t wrap my brain around the fact that all this is over what amounts to chump change to them. Geez. Who would have thought being a “winner” would be such a pain in the…um…neck?!
Pepsi and Global Giving have been presented with the terrible truth of what happened to these families and instead of saying they were wrong, they have covered up the truth. Why? It is out of sheer selfishness. Shame on all of them! I am so disappointed in these organizations. I REFUSE to buy Pepsi products!
I have been watching this story unfold and it is really disturbing that one individual, Lea Kaydus, can be allowed to scam so many people. She has taken money as deposits towards training service dogs and yet no training is being done (no communication and no proof offered). She promised to train service dogs for autistic children and their families if they would help her win $50,000 from Pepsi (administered by Global Giving).
Pepsi & Global Giving – what part of this do you NOT get? People would NOT have voted for this individual if they had known that she would never follow through on her plans. You were suckered. You funded an individual’s Dream! Now it is time for you to WAKE-UP and admit that you blew it! Pepsi – would you have allowed this individual to be in your program if you had known she was scamming you too – just to gain $50,000 for her own PERSONAL use?
I think it is time that someone do a site visit to her “training” facility (i.e., personal utility barn) to see if she is working with the dogs that she promised to the 11 families. Who knows? Perhaps they are using the barn to house rescue dogs – remember her daughter also applied for a grant to take in “lonely” rescue dogs. If she is working with animals in some capacity – does she have all the necessary permits in place (breeding, selling, buying, training, rescuing)? How can she claim to love animals and at the same time be so deceitful to people? Sadly, she appears to be using innocent animals for her own gain, too.
Pepsi doesn’t mind they are out $50,000 so I guess they won’t mind if I don’t buy any of their related products.
I don’t understand why Pepsi and Global Giving don’t just come out and admit that they were the victims of Lea Kaydus’s SCAM too. They must be ashamed and embarrassed. The whole “spirit of the grant” claim from “Global Scamming” is a sham too. I do not buy Pepsi products anymore, and have shared this ongoing story with everyone I know and they have all been shocked and saddened that this has happened.
Beth, you just made me spit my coffee! “Global Scamming” LOL
I have persuaded many family/friends to boycott all Pepsi products (see list above). I work in the nonprofit industry and I have also shared with colleagues about how irresponsible Global Giving has been.
To say that the terms of the grant can be changed after the fact, and that the “spirit” of the grant is being followed by Lea Kaydus while she does whatever the hell she wants with her 50Gs is absolutely ridiculous.
I will never again participate in a voting contest for non-profits. There are too many scammers out there who are smarter than the people who deliver the contest.