Toyota Announces Partnership With the National FFA Foundation
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TORRANCE, Calif., July 11 -- Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. and the National FFA Foundation have announced a two year agreement between Toyota and the FFA that marks a significant enhancement to the over 30-year- old partnership. The partnership will allow Toyota's increased participation in FFA activities and will allow Toyota dealers to further connect with the high quality events the FFA conducts nationwide. Additionally, the partnership, which will further support the launch of the all-new Tundra, will allow the FFA to expand their community relations efforts and to conduct charitable work in communities in which they reside.
The increased funding will support National FFA student leadership development, alumni programs, local community service projects, collegiate scholarships, special events and enhance diversity in agricultural education. Additionally, 25 Toyota vehicles will be provided to selected local agriculture education programs, key agricultural education leaders and organizations across the country.
Through this partnership, Toyota and FFA will bring together local Toyota dealers and FFA chapters to participate in programs like Can Hunger Food drives to benefit the less fortunate.
Toyota and FFA will also outreach to FFA alumni through collegiate football networking events where alumni will have the opportunity to reconnect with each other and learn about the current activities of the FFA.
"The National FFA Foundation has a longstanding partnership with Toyota; and with these additional funds, we can recommit resources across all avenues of the agricultural education spectrum," said Dennis Sargent, executive director of the National FFA Foundation. "Students, teachers, alumni and volunteers will all feel the impact of this expanded Toyota initiative."
Historically, Toyota has supported post-secondary education, math and science and environmental education as well as community development programs. Recently, Toyota has extended its involvement with rural education by becoming a presenting sponsor of the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day programs taking place in rural communities across the nation. The dynamics of these programs continue to show Toyota's relentless pursuit to support education across the country.
"We are excited about this significant increase in our support of the FFA," said Brian Smith, Corporate Manager of Truck and SUV for Toyota. "We're looking forward to expanding our base of educational support to the future agricultural leaders of this country. Additionally, we can now increase recognition of the top teachers leading this effort and better connect our dealers to the admirable work of the FFA."
About The National FFA Organization
The National FFA Organization, formerly known as the Future Farmers of America, is a national youth organization of 495,046 student members - all preparing for leadership and careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture - as part of 7,242 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The National FFA Organization changed to its present name in 1988, in recognition of the growth and diversity of agriculture and agricultural education. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. Visit http://www.ffa.org/ for more information.
About Toyota
Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), USA, Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicle brands in the United States, celebrating its 50th anniversary in America this year. Established in 1957, TMS markets products and services through a network of more than 1,400 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers. Toyota directly employs over 33,000 people in the U.S. and sold more than 2.5 million vehicles in 2006. For more information about our company, please visit http://www.toyota.com/, http://www.lexus.com/ and http://www.scion.com/.
