Twenty-two historically black colleges and universities to receive Toyota hybrid vehicles

Toyota Green Initiative Coalition members, actress Tatyana Ali, 2010 TGI Campus Contest Winner Stephen Graddick, SMB Essentials CEO Lake Louise, Earthseed Consulting co-founder Pandora Thomas, 2012 TGI Green Campus Winner Corban Bell, Earthseed Consulting co-founder Zakiya Harris and Black and Green author Jamal Ali, help announce the donation of twenty-two hybrid vehicles to HBCUs. (PRNewsFoto/Toyota)

2013-14 Toyota Green Initiative Tour helps select CIAA and SWAC schools improve campus environment

(PRN) TORRANCE, Calif., October. 29, 2013 Twenty-two select Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) schools will continue their commitment to sustainability with a one-year lease of a Toyota Prius liftback or Prius Plug-in vehicle.

Each school will receive a vehicle in conjunction with the 2013-14 Toyota Green Initiative (TGI) tour, an environmental stewardship program designed to empower the African American community. The tour travels to participating HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) each fall to educate students and alumni on the benefits of adopting a sustainable lifestyle.

"As the Toyota Green Initiative begins its fourth year, we wanted to provide historically black institutions with a product that would help improve campus environment and promote sustainability," said Jim Colon, Vice President of Toyota Product Communications for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. "With low emissions and improved fuel economy, we are proud to provide these HBCUs with one of the Prius family of vehicles for the 2013-2014 school year."

The twenty-two hybrid vehicles will be used by school staff for campus-related administrative and facilities use and will be delivered to each institution in early 2014.

This year's TGI Tour will travel to a total of 27 HBCU campuses with a fully-immersive experience to engage students in the environmental space.

The program will travel to a number of HBCU campuses with on-site displays and activities, including the Green Gallery, a display that features environmental tips and facts and chronicles green history within the African American community; the Power Hour competition, where students can generate power on stationary bikes for prizes; Prius and Highlander Hybrid display vehicles; and charging stations for personal electronics such as cell phones and tablets.

At select tour stops, TGI Green Workshops will be hosted by the TGI Coalition, a collection of environmental experts who speak on sustainability within the African American community and relevant ways to go green. Coalition members include environmental advocates Earthseed, Black and Greenauthor Jamal Ali, SMB Essentials CEO Lake Louise, actor Lance Gross, actress Tatyana Ali, 2012 TGI Campus Contest winner Corban Bell and 2010 TGI Campus Contest Winner Stephen Graddick. 

 Panel discussions and sustainability activities such as creating affordable natural cleaning products with Earthseed or learning about greener skincare and beauty alternatives with Lake Louise teach students to take a hands-on approach to improve their environment during the workshops.

At the center of the Toyota Green Initiative is an interactive website, which provides easy ways to live green and to save green, eco-conscious articles, videos, campus and community events and volunteer programs.  

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 (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ nearly 40,000 people (more than 37,000 in the U.S.).  Our 1,800 North American dealerships sold more than 2.3 million cars and trucks in 2012 – 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. (NYSE:TM