Lend a Hand to Protect Public Lands

TORRANCE, Calif., September 17, 2014 /3BL Media/ – Parks (and other public lands) do their part. They provide a safe place for native flora and fauna. They help keep air and water clean. They provide a laboratory for environmental learning.  So the time has come: ask not what your park can do for you but what you can do for your park.
 
The answer? Participate in National Public Lands Day (NPLD) on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014.
 
From small urban pocket parks and school yards to majestic destinations parks around the country, volunteers will plant trees, build trails, remove invasive plants and litter, replace signs and otherwise beautify the nation’s public lands.
 
For the sixteenth consecutive year, Toyota team members will be doing exactly that this fall. Over 3,900 Toyota employees and their families will volunteer at 40 different public land areas in 17 states and Puerto Rico.
 
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS) signed on as national corporate sponsor of the event in 1999. Since then, 32,665 Toyota employees have volunteered at 427 sites. They’ve:

• Removed 192,150 pounds of trash and 4,270 pounds of invasive vegetation
• Built/maintained 282 miles of trails
• Planted 21,350 trees, shrubs and other vegetation

"Toyota's commitment to public lands and to NPLD continues to grow," said Diane Wood, president of the National Environmental Education Foundation. "Each year, their passion for the program and for finding new ways to give back to their own communities through this special day has surpassed our expectations. They are a true partner."
 
“This unique sponsorship supports Toyota’s global commitment to environmental stewardship by providing our employees with meaningful volunteer opportunities to help improve public lands in their local communities,” said Michael Rouse, TMS vice president of diversity, philanthropy and community affairs.
 
One third of America’s land is in public hands. Want to lend your hand to this cause? Sign up at: http://www.publiclandsday.org.

  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 2.5 million cars and trucks (more than 2.2 million in the U.S.) in 2013 – 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.  To date, Toyota has contributed more than $700 million to American nonprofit groups.  For more information about Toyota’s contributions in the U.S., visit http://www.toyota.com/about.
 
About NEEF
National Public Lands Day began in 1994 and is coordinated by The National Environmental Education Foundation. NEEF is the nation’s leading organization in lifelong environmental learning, connecting people to knowledge they use to improve the quality of their lives and the health of the planet. NEEF sees a future where by 2022, 300 million Americans actively use environmental knowledge to ensure the well-being of the earth and its people.www.NEEFUSA.org

Media Contacts

Toyota Contacts:
Rhonda Glasscock (310) 468-4119 or rhonda_glasscock@toyota.com
Diana DeJoseph (310) 468-4751 or diana_dejoseph@toyota.com
 
NEEF Contact:
Amber Taylor (703)-201-4893 or amber@taylored-communications.com