PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Nearly one million people in the Delaware Valley face
hunger every day, and this holiday season, Toyota and the Tri-State
Toyota Dealers take the wheel to help again, filling a fleet of
Toyota Tundras with food donations for Philabundance (the region's
largest hunger relief organization).
After donating over 35 tons of food to Philabundance in
December 2013, the Tri-State Toyota
Dealers and their partners will again provide tens of thousands of
meals to people in need this holiday season during their annual
"Toyota Tundra Food Drive" on Friday, Dec.
12 in Philadelphia.
"Hunger is a community-wide problem that affects so many of our
neighbors, whether you can see it, or not. Support from
organizations like Tri-State Toyota Dealers help us fulfill our
mission every day and get food into the hands of people who need it
most," said Mark Bender, interim
executive director of Philabundance.
For this year's event, the Tri-State Toyota Dealers and three
U.S. divisions of Toyota Motor Corporation North America have
partnered with 22 Philadelphia-area organizations to secure and
deliver more than 125,000 pounds of nonperishable food for those in
need – a 79 percent increase over last year's event.
"Hunger relief continues to be a serious issue facing many in
our community, and with the help of our partners, we are thankful
to donate and deliver over 62 tons of food to Philabundance through
our 8th annual 'Toyota Tundra Food Drive' so that they, in turn,
can provide over 125,000 meals to those in need across the Delaware
Valley," said Tri-State TDA President, Paul
Muller.
"Toyota is focused on partnering with our dealers on important
causes like hunger relief and it is awe-inspiring to see what we
are able to do for Philabundance through the 'Toyota Tundra Food
Drive' with that combined focus and effort," said Andrew Gilleland, general manager of the Central
Atlantic Toyota Region.
Awe-inspiring, indeed, as a convoy of nearly 75 Toyota Tundras
will literally "haul away hunger" as the Tri-State Toyota Dealers
deliver over 62 tons of donated food to Philabundance in Lot P at
Citizens Bank Park.
An essential element to the annual event's success is the
support from the Toyota Dealers' local broadcast media and
professional sports team partners. "Along with Toyota, my fellow
Toyota Dealers and I are truly humbled by the generosity of our
business partners to help us nearly double the amount of food we
were able to donate and deliver to Philabundance this year versus
just a year ago," said Muller.
"The Phillies have a long-standing relationship with the
Tri-State Toyota Dealers Association and are excited to once again
host and actively participate in the annual Toyota Tundra Food
Drive," said Phillies' senior vice president of marketing,
Dave Buck.
Philabundance and the Tri-State Toyota Dealers welcome
credentialed media to attend the 8th Annual "Toyota Tundra Food
Drive" in Lot P at Citizens Bank Park on Friday, Dec. 12, between 11:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. The Tundra
Convoy's arrival to Lot P is estimated to be around 11:50 a.m.
This year's food drive event for Philabundance will be a
well-supported Toyota affair enabled by the Tri-State Toyota
Dealers, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Toyota Financial Services, and
Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A. – the latter of which is once
again providing the Toyota forklifts to off-load the food donated
to Philabundance.
"It is an honor to contribute to such a worthwhile cause in
support of our fellow Toyota divisions and Philabundance in their
mission to give aid to those in need this holiday season," said
Dana Hopkins, president, Toyota
Material Handling Northeast.
"From pickup trucks to forklifts to tractor-trailers to Toyota
associates on the ground, there are several divisions of Toyota
supporting our dealers' efforts for this annual food drive," said
Dave Christ, general manager of the
Toyota New York Region. "It is a privilege for all of us at Toyota
to bring so many of the company's resources to bear on supporting
our dealers with such an important and impactful cause."
As a true community partner, Toyota and the Tri-State Toyota
Dealers have supported many causes in the Greater Philadelphia Area, including donations
and events dedicated to: driver safety, wellness, children's
causes, and local veterans through programs such as "Hiring Our
Heroes."
"This annual food drive is just one of many examples where
Toyota is working together with our dealers in the Greater Philadelphia area to make a difference
in our local communities," said Gilleland.
Hunger relief is a year-round need, and Toyota hopes that the
2014 Toyota Tundra Food Drive will inspire other organizations and
individuals in the community to help Philabundance in any way
possible. Visit www.philabundance.org to find out how you or your
organization can get involved in hunger relief.
About Philabundance
Philabundance reduces
hunger and food insecurity in the Delaware Valley by providing food
access to people in need in partnership with organizations and
individuals. Philabundance provides a full plate of services
through neighborhood distribution programs and a network of close
to 500 member agencies in 9 counties. Philabundance serves
approximately 72,000 people per week at a cost of 50 cents per meal. There are more than 900,000
people in the Delaware Valley who are at risk for chronic hunger
and malnutrition. In 2012, Philabundance distributed nearly 25
million pounds of food. For more information about Philabundance,
visit www.philabundance.org or call 215-339-0900.
Visit us on Facebook, Facebook.com/Philabundance and follow us on
Twitter, Twitter.com/Philabundance. If you or someone you know is
in need of food assistance, please call Philabundance's Food Help
Line, 800-319-Food (3663).
About Tri-State Toyota Dealers
Association
The Tri-State Toyota Dealers Association
is comprised of 25 Toyota Dealers in the Greater Philadelphia market dedicated to
providing customers in Southeastern
Pennsylvania, Northwestern
Delaware and Southern New
Jersey communities with Toyota sales and service. The
Tri-State TDA has an ongoing partnership with multiple community
organizations and causes, including the association's focus on
hunger relief in the Delaware and
Lehigh Valleys through initiatives such as the annual "Toyota
Tundra Food Drives" in Philadelphia and Allentown and supporting the "Phans Feeding
Families" initiative with the Philadelphia Phillies.
About Toyota
Toyota, 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 and
directly employ nearly 40,000 people. Our 1,800 North American
dealerships sold more than 2.3 million cars and trucks in 2012 –
and about 80% of all Toyotas sold over the past 20 years are still
on the road today.
Toyota partners with a wide variety of 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 from building great cars and trucks to help community
organizations and other nonprofits expand their ability to do good.
(NYSE:TM) For more information about Toyota, visit
www.toyotanewsroom.com.
About Toyota Material Handling
Toyota
Material Handling Northeast is the authorized supplier of Toyota
forklifts, the #1 selling lift truck in the US since 2002, in the
greater Philadelphia area, New
Jersey Delaware and Maryland,
TMHNE is a full service material handling equipment company in all
three of our locations offering forklift sales, service, parts,
rental equipment. Our goal is to provide services that matches the
high quality standards of the Toyota forklift products; services
that will be unmatched in the Philadelphia and Baltimore area. For more information please
visit www.tmhne.com.
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SOURCE SHIFT Communications for Toyota