Toyota Kicks Off Martin Luther King Day Donating Boots and Socks to Local Area Homeless and Families in Need
January 17 2015 - 12:00PM
Business Wire
‘Toyota Walk In My Boots’ Community
Outreach ProjectEnriching Lives…One Step At A Time at The
Salvation Army Sherman Avenue Corps.
If you are poor, you are essentially an illness, an accident, or
a paycheck away from living on the streets. On Saturday, January
17, 2015, Toyota Motor Sales, USA, through its “Toyota
Walk In My Boots” community outreach project, stepped in to
help area homeless women and children and local community residents
in need by providing new all-weather boots and socks to the
residents of The Salvation Army Turning Point Center for Women and
Children, as well as, select participants at The Salvation Army
Sherman Avenue Corps. The waterproof boots are perfect for any
season from fall to spring and are designed to keep feet dry. Often
low-income families do not have adequate clothing to fight the
elements of a cold winter. While many programs offer winter coat
giveaways, a person’s feet are often left vulnerable to cold
temperatures. The project offers comfort in a time of need as
recent temperatures have fluctuated from cold snowy days to wet
rainy days. Toyota also gave a $15,000 donation to The Salvation
Army National Capital Area Command enabling them to continue to
provide refuge for children and families in times of crisis.
The Salvation Army Turning Point Center for Women and
Children is a two-year transitional housing program that gives
26 families – women and their children -- a safe haven to learn how
to live independently. The Salvation Army Sherman Avenue
Corps is a community center serving the most critical needs of
the surrounding neighborhood. “We are so grateful to Toyota for
both the monetary donation to the National Capital Area Command,
and the footwear donation to the Turning Point and Sherman Avenue
Corps residents specifically, which is especially helpful during
these unpredictable winter months,” said Major Lewis Reckline, area
commander, The Salvation Army National Capital Area Command. “With
the need greater than ever because of the increase in poverty and
homelessness, we are blessed to have support from good corporate
citizens like Toyota, who are ‘Doing the Most Good’ by raising
awareness of our mission to feed, shelter and clothe those who are
less fortunate.”
An estimated 7,748 residents are homeless on any given night in
Washington, D.C., according to the annual homeless census of 2014.
More than a quarter of all homeless people in the nation’s capital
are children, and half are people in families. A number of factors
are driving the increase in D.C.’s homelessness, including a lack
of affordable housing and stagnating wages. Poverty rates remain
high in some areas where one-in-three residents lived below the
poverty line in 2014.
“At Toyota, we want to build more than just great cars and
trucks,” said Michael Rouse, vice president, Diversity,
Philanthropy and Community Affairs, Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.
“We want to help build great places to live. We want the work that
is being done at The Salvation Army Turning Point and Sherman
Avenue Corps to continue for years to come. We hope also that our
donation of all-weather boots and socks will help to enrich
lives…one step at a time.”
One TSA Sherman Avenue Corps participant commented that she was
excited and blessed to receive the new boots and warm socks because
she really could not afford to buy her kids boots this year. She
said it was hard enough just trying to make ends meet and pay the
household bills.
Toyota also treated residents to a buffet luncheon. Residents
expressed their gratitude to receive a “down-home” cooked meal for
their family.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), the world's top automaker and creator of the
Prius, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live
through our Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands. Over the past 50 years,
we’ve built more than 25 million cars and trucks in North America,
where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and
directly employ more than 40,000 people (more than 32,000 in the
U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (1,500 in the U.S.)
sold more than 2.6 million cars and trucks (more than 2.37 million
in the U.S.) in 2014 – and about 80 percent of all Toyota vehicles
sold over the past 20 years are still on the road today.
Toyota partners with philanthropic organizations across the
country, with a focus on education, safety and the environment. As
part of this commitment, we share the company’s extensive know-how
garnered from building great cars and trucks to help community
organizations and other nonprofits expand their ability to do good.
For more information about Toyota, visit
www.toyotanewsroom.com.
About The Salvation Army Turning Point
for Women and Children
The Salvation Army Turning Point is a two-year transitional
housing program that gives 26 families a safe haven to learn how to
live independently. Case management and counseling services help
keep them on course, but intensive classes—in budgeting, parenting,
and housekeeping, as well as building healthy relationships and
preparing for jobs—help them move ahead. Staff members work with
the mothers to help them stay in school, or employed, and to make
decisions about their future; and the mothers build a group support
system as their families move together through the program.
About The Salvation Army Sherman Avenue
Corps
The Salvation Army Sherman Avenue Corps Community Center is a
facility serving the most critical needs of the community. The
Corps served almost 3,300 free meals to people living in poverty
last year. From hot, nutritious lunches offered three times a week
to food baskets and monthly donations from the pantry, no one in
the neighborhood goes hungry. In addition to meeting physical
needs, the Corps also offers other opportunities for nourishment.
Families find fellowship in the worship services every Sunday,
while kids build friendships and life skills through youth programs
and after-school clubs. And when school is out during the summer,
the Corps opens the doors of its gym, providing a healthy
alternative to everyone in the neighborhood.
Crystal Vision CommunicationsCrystal Williams,
313-402-5722crystal@crystalvisioncommunications.comorToyota PR –
Washington DCEd Lewis, 202-290-9640ed_lewis@toyota.comorThe
Salvation Army – PRKen Forsythe,
202-497-3811Ken_forsythe@uss.salvationarmy.org
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