PLANO, Texas, Jan. 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of
the life and vision of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., Toyota Financial Services (TFS) announced its
continued support of Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCUs), with its annual donation of $60,000 to five HBCUs and the Tom Joyner
Foundation.
A long-standing supporter of the African-American community, TFS
established the donation to meet and assist numerous talented young
minds who may have otherwise been unable to complete their
education due to the lack of financial aid. The program
builds upon a decade-long partnership between Toyota and the Tom
Joyner Foundation to support HBCU students.
"Dr. King believed all young people should be given an
opportunity to receive the best education possible," said
John Ridgeway, general manager of
TFS' Customer Service Center in Maryland. "It's been an honor for Toyota to
support the mission of HBCUs, and help these students reach their
academic and professional aspirations."
The following universities will each receive $10,000:
- University of Maryland – Eastern
Shore, Princess Anne, Md.
- North Carolina A&T University, Greensboro, N.C.
- Lincoln University,
Lincoln University, Pa.
- Huston-Tillotson University, Austin,
Texas
- Alabama State University,
Montgomery, Ala.
Toyota Financial Services also is donating $10,000 to support the work of the Tom
Joyner Foundation. The foundation provides academic support,
scholarships, and programming to over 80 HBCUs in the Southern and
Eastern United States.
"Toyota is a valued partner in our mission to help students at
these colleges, and we're thankful to be collaborating with them
for a fourth consecutive year," said Thomas
Joyner, Jr., president and CEO of the
Foundation. "These scholarships are game-changing
investments for so many of these students who are working hard to
achieve their college degrees."
Financial support of universities is key in driving student
success and retention at HBCUs, thereby producing high
graduation rates.
"Providing this support not only helps ensure students achieve
their dreams of higher education, it also contributes to the
sustainment of these HBCUs and helps them address the issues that
impact student retention," concluded Ridgeway.
Toyota has been named a DiversityInc Top 50 Company for
Diversity® for the past ten years, and has been consistently
recognized by Black Enterprise, Hispanic Business,
and the Human Rights Campaign as a Best Company for
Diversity and one of the Best Places to Work.
Toyota has provided millions of dollars in scholarships to
deserving students across the nation; its executives actively
support and sponsor the company's many diversity and inclusion
initiatives, and its team members volunteer tens of thousands of
hours of their time and provide their talents to national- and
community-based programs across the
United States.
For more information, contact Neil
Foote, media relations, Tom Joyner
Foundation(neil.foote@tomjoynerfoundation.org, 214.448.3765) or
Justin Leach, public relations
manager, Toyota Financial Services (justin.leach@toyota.com,
469.486.9065).
About The Tom Joyner Foundation
The Tom Joyner
Foundation (http://tomjoynerfoundation.org) was founded in 1998 as
the brainchild of nationally syndicated radio personality
Tom Joyner. The mission of the
Foundation is to support historically black colleges and
universities (HBCUs) with scholarships, endowments and
capacity-building enhancements. The Foundation has provided
necessary support to every HBCU in its 18-year history to help
sustain and preserve the legacies of these valuable institutions.
Through fundraising and donor development initiatives, in excess of
$65 million has been raised to
support more than 29,000 students attending HBCUs. Additionally,
the Foundation has recommended internships, offered matching grant
support, and career development to deserving students.
About Toyota Motor North America
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has
been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for 60 years, and is committed
to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our
Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a
tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class
design, engineering, and assembly of more than 33 million cars and
trucks in North America, where we
operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly
employ more than 46,000 people (more than 36,000 in the
U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in
the U.S.) sold more than 2.6 million cars and trucks (2.4 million
in the U.S.) in 2017 – and about 85 percent of all Toyota vehicles
sold over the past 15 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.
About Toyota Financial Services
Toyota Financial
Services (TFS) is the finance and insurance brand for Toyota in
the United States, offering retail
auto financing and leasing through Toyota Motor Credit Corporation
(TMCC) and Toyota Lease Trust. TFS also offers extended service
contracts through Toyota Motor Insurance Services (TMIS). The
company services Lexus dealers and customers using the Lexus
Financial Services brand. TFS currently employs approximately 3,100
associates nationwide, and has assets totaling over $120 billion. It is part of a worldwide network
of comprehensive financial services offered by Toyota Financial
Services Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor
Corporation. We announce material financial information using the
investor relations section of our website (www.toyotafinancial.com)
and SEC filings. We use these channels, press releases, and social
media to communicate about our company, our services and other
issues. While not all information we post on social media is of a
material nature, some information could be material. Therefore, we
encourage those interested in our company to review our posts on
Twitter at www.twitter.com/toyotafinancial.
Points of Light has named TFS one of its Civic 50, which
recognizes the most community-minded companies in the nation.
For more information about the company's support of financial
literacy, youth development programs, and other community
initiatives, please visit www.tfsinthecommunity.com
Media Contact: Justin Leach
469-486-9065
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SOURCE Toyota Motor North America