CHICAGO, Nov. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota and VH1 Save
The Music's national music festival activation and social media
campaign #ToyotaGiving came to a close today as Toyota presented
three Chicago area schools each
with $10,000 grants that will provide
musical instruments and equipment to each school.
At an energetic school-wide assembly held at John Spry Community
Elementary School on Thursday, November
3, Tyler McBride, Engagement
Marketing Manager at Toyota, and Chiho
Feindler, Senior Director of Programs and Policy at VH1 Save
The Music, awarded the grants to the three participating schools –
John Spry Community, Goudy Technology Academy, and Daniel Boone
Elementary. John Spry's Assistant
Principal Pablo Guzman and
Chicago Public Schools' Director
of Arts Education Evan Plummer were
also on hand to present the grant and speak to the importance of
music education in Chicago's
public schools. Chicago local and
self-proclaimed "Ghetto Gospel" singer Sir the Baptist surprised
the students with a soulful performance of his track "What We Got,"
which brought the entire auditorium to their feet. He also invited
thirty music students from all three schools up to the stage to
perform a rousing rendition of "Wake Up." Several students
performed with his band, adding elements of violin, cello, and
drums to the mix, while others stomped and sang along with Sir to
the chorus: "We gotta wake up, we can change the world."
The grant was achieved through an interactive festival
activation and social media campaign implemented at music festivals
nationwide, including Lollapalooza, Sasquatch, Voodoo Music + Arts
Experience, Stagecoach, Afropunk, Ruido Fest, Firefly Music
Festival, and Country 500. The activation engaged with
festivalgoers and artists through interactive large-scale
pointillism art pieces, unique to each festival and built using
plexiglass and multicolored globes. Festivalgoers and artists were
invited to write or draw their answer to the important question –
"What Does Music Mean to You?" – on the globes, which were
then added to the art piece. As each festival progressed, the mural
evolved as it slowly filled up with hand drawn pieces. By the end
of the festival weekend, the art was displayed for festivalgoers to
check out their handiwork, complete with hundreds of personalized
messages speaking to the importance of music. Artists who
participated in the activation had the below to say:
"Music means I am not alone" - Third Eye Blind's Stephan Jenkins
"Music is Everything" – City & Colour's Dallas Green
"Music is how we connect. Music is how we express ourselves"
– G-Eazy
With the eight festival run complete, Toyota was able to fulfill
a $40,000 donation to VH1 Save The
Music, which was divvied up to fulfill three Keys + Kids grants at
three deserving Chicago schools.
Each Keys + Kids grant consists of $10,000 worth of musical instruments; a Casio
Celviano Grand Hybrid GP-500 Piano and 3 Casio WK-7600 Music
Workstations. VH1 Save The Music established the Keys + Kids grant
in response to the growing need for high-quality, functional
pianos, and to provide even more students with a safe and inclusive
community to learn through the arts.
"Altruism is at the forefront of our brand, so we're thrilled to
partner with VH1 Save The Music to support music education across
the country," said Steve Appelbaum,
national engagement marketing manager, Toyota Motor Sales,
U.S.A., Inc. "Cultivating
curiosity and creativity is so integral to our
nation's progress, and VH1 Save The Music is the perfect
partner to help Toyota invest in the quality of education across
the country."
"We are gearing up to celebrate 20 years at VH1 Save The Music
and partners like Toyota have helped significantly with our mission
to ensure music is a part of every child's complete education,"
says Henry Donahue, executive
director of VH1 Save The Music Foundation. "We're thrilled to be in
these communities and that our work over the summer has brought
instruments and music back to these schools."
ABOUT VH1 SAVE THE MUSIC FOUNDATION
The
VH1 Save The Music Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated
to restoring instrumental music education programs in America's
public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music
as part of each child's complete education. Founded in 1997, VH1
Save The Music was the first organization in existence dedicated to
restoring music programs in America's schools. For nearly 20 years,
the foundation has donated over $53
million worth of new musical instruments to 2,024 public
schools in 247 school districts around the country-- impacting the
lives of more than 3 million public
school students. Learn about the
foundation's Play It Forward campaign in
celebration of its 20th anniversary
here: on.vh1.com/playitforward.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), the world's top
automaker and creator of the Prius and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle,
is committed to advancing mobility through our Toyota and
Lexus brands. Over the past 50 years, we've produced more
than 30 million cars and trucks in North
America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the
U.S.) and directly employ more than 44,000 people (more than 34,000
in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (1,500 in
the U.S.) sold more than 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.5
million in the U.S.) in 2015 – and about 80 percent of all Toyota
vehicles sold over the past 20 years are still on the road
today.
Toyota partners with community, civic, academic, and
governmental organizations to address our society's most pressing
mobility challenges. We share company resources and extensive
know-how to support non-profits to help expand their ability to
assist more people move more places. For more information about
Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.
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SOURCE Toyota