Frito-Lay's TrueNorth Brand Shines the Spotlight on Inspirational 'True North' Stories

Wed Nov 4, 2009 12:55pm EST
 
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Frito-Lay's TrueNorth Brand Shines the Spotlight on Inspirational 'True North'
Stories
New York Resident Karen Torrie Named TrueNorth Brand's Latest Story of the
Month




PLANO, Texas, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspired by the belief that everyone has
a passion in life, TrueNorth, PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division's popular line of
100% natural nut snacks, is recognizing real people who have pursued their
life's passions or their "true north," through the brand's "TrueNorth Story of
the Month" campaign. For the month of September, the TrueNorth brand is
recognizing the inspirational story of Karen Torrie, a volunteer firefighter
and EMT.

A wife and mother of two, Karen's true north is helping her community as a
volunteer firefighter and EMT. At the age of 44, Karen decided that she wanted
to give back to her community, a suburb of Niagara Falls, and followed her
husband's example by becoming a volunteer firefighter. After 86 hours of
intense training including everything from hazmat to search and rescue
training, Karen graduated and is now a firefighter and EMT. Today, she carries
a pager and responds to calls all hours of the day and night. Through effort
and hard work, Karen has fought several local fires including a recent fire
that lasted for over eight hours. 

"My husband has been a volunteer for a fire company for the past twenty years
and watching him really inspired me to step out of my comfort zone and follow
my passion for serving my community," shared Torrie. "I'm not the typical
firefighter because I'm a woman and over the age of 40; I hope my story
motivates more women to get involved in firefighting and encourages them to
follow their passion whatever it might be."  

"For most of us, it's hard to imagine risking our lives for strangers," said
Michelle Rule, Director of marketing, TrueNorth brand, Frito-Lay North
America. "Karen's passion for her community and firefighting truly inspired
us. We're excited to spotlight her story and the incredible work she does --
all on a volunteer basis."

The TrueNorth brand encourages consumers to continue to submit a written essay
that describes how they are pursuing their life's passions through the brand's
website - www.truenorthsnacks.com.  The brand will select a "Story of the
Month" each month through December that will be prominently featured on the
web site.  In addition to being featured online, the recipient of "Story of
the Month" will be awarded a $1,000 grant and a passion pack to help in the
pursuit of his or her passion.

After a nationwide search last year for the most inspiring story in America,
TrueNorth selected Lisa Nigro, founder of Inspiration Cafe, and featured her
in a sixty-second commercial that made its debut in February during a
nationally broadcast awards ceremony. More than two thousands stories were
submitted from across the country that featured amazing individuals who are
pursuing their life's passion and impacting the people around them. 

TrueNorth is a contemporary brand of 100% natural nut snacks that followed its
passion to take a simple nut and make an extraordinary snack. The TrueNorth
brand believes everyone has a singular passion in life that can leave a
legacy, empower others or simply make the world a more interesting place to
live. By showcasing these powerful stories, TrueNorth hopes to inspire people
to find the passion that drives them to turn the ordinary into the
extraordinary.

Frito-Lay North America is the $12 billion convenient foods business unit of
PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY.  In addition to
Frito-Lay, PepsiCo business units include Pepsi-Cola, Quaker Foods, Gatorade
and Tropicana. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate Web site,
http://www.fritolay.com/ , the Snack Chat blog, http://www.snacks.com/ and on
Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/fritolay. 

PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and
beverage brands, including 18 different product lines that each generate more
than $1 billion in annual retail sales.  Our main businesses - Frito-Lay,
Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade - also make hundreds of other
nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in over 200
countries.  With more than $43 billion in 2008 revenues, PepsiCo employs
198,000 people who are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth,
called Performance with Purpose.  By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad
array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our
environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture,
PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities
worldwide.  For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

    Contact:
    Aurora Gonzalez
    Frito-Lay
    (972) 334-3821




SOURCE  Frito-Lay

Aurora Gonzalez of Frito-Lay, +1-972-334-3821

 

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