Announcing Toyota's National Partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America!

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As you know, at Toyota we believe an auto company can also be a vehicle for change.  That’s why we support programs focused on strengthening diverse communities across the U.S. by partnering with nonprofit organizations in the local communities where we live and work.

In 2007, Toyota Financial Services launched our signature philanthropy program, "Making Life Easier for YOUth" to provide underserved children in the U.S. with educational opportunities, academic scholarships and internships.  To date this program has benefitted over 200 college students and provided over $1 million in scholarships.

Today, I’m pleased to tell you that we have partnered with Toyota and Boys & Girls Clubs of America to announce a national partnership through the establishment of a college readiness initiative, which will help fund youth education and improve high school graduation rates.  As a founding sponsor of Diplomas to Degrees - or D2D - Toyota is providing a $1.5 million grant over three years to Boys & Girls Club of America to help prepare teens to graduate from both high school and college.

Studies show that students who fail to graduate high school prepared to attend a four-year college are much less likely to gain full access to our country’s economic, political and social opportunities.  In fact, across the nation over one third of students are dropping out of high school, and in large cities or high-poverty rural areas, close to 60% of the students never get to graduation day.

The Diplomas to Degrees program will be able to serve all Boys & Girls Clubs, with or without dedicated teen programs.  The program will include:

·        Staff-facilitated curriculum

·        Mentors acting as “college coaches”

·        Experiential field trips to colleges, trade and technical schools

·        An Online resource that provides a grade-based guide for youth on the steps they must take to be “college ready”

D2D has been piloted in ten cities over the past year and has shown promising local success.  A similar college-bound program from the Boys & Girls Club of the Los Angeles Harbor saw the graduation rate of Club members increase from 50 to 90% in five years.   In 2011, 97% of the students served were admitted to two and four-year colleges!