Coca-Cola selects Florida A& M students to go to Africa

The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation has extended a sponsored trip to South Africa for two FAMU students who participate in their Coca-Cola RAIN program by Feb. 28 as a part of their Open Happiness Tour. Students must upload a three-minute video answering the question, “How does the Coca-Cola RAIN program inspire you?”Coca-Cola launched the RAIN initiative to provide access to safe drinking water to African communities. Anyea Debose, 21, a fourth-year double major marketing and public relations student from Fort Lauderdale Fla., ” This sounds like an excellent plan for Coca-Cola to help Africa like this. I am glad to see such a large, well-known company do something so great. Debose heard about the opportunity through word of mouth. “I hope this opportunity open up student’s eyes to something new, I’m glad young African American students like me have shot at experiencing something so great,” said Debose.Actor Idris Elba will join the students on the tour.“Idris Elba is an amazing actor. I’m so glad he decided to join in on such a powerful cause,” said Brittany Holman, 19, a second-year broadcast journalism student from Leesburg, Fla. “I’m sure he could have chosen many other things to do, but he chose Coca-Cola’s RAIN effort to make a difference.” Coca-Cola selected 10 Historically Black Colleges and Universities to participate. FAMU was one of them.Lameitra Dupree, 22, a fourth-year Business Administration student from Orange Park, Fla., said the opportunity is great for schools that do not have the capabilities to send students abroad to Africa.“It’s nice that they gave the offer to students at HBCUs,” Dupree said. “This gives us a chance to be a part of a great cause that we might not have had the means to ever accomplish on our own.”Dupree feels strongly about her ancestry that roots back to Africa. “This is a time students can not only win a free trip to Africa, but use this time to trace their ancestry and learn more about their mother country,” said Dupree. Students will be judged on their creativity and content. “I think FAMU students will be very competitive and creative with this competition. Helping people who are less fortunate than we are is a wonderful thing,” said Sheronica Manzie, 22, a fourth-year Business Administration student from Berlin, Germany. Manzie said she heard about the opportunity through an email that was forwarded by LaRae Donnellan, a journalism professor. “This is a fantastic opportunity to be able to do good things while getting your transportation paid for and experiencing a great adventure,” said Donnellan. “If we don’t get at least one person from our school, I will be sad. There is so much talent here.”