Toyota and Food Bank For New York City Partner on Meals Per Hour To Support Communities Hard-Hit by Hurricane Sandy
Toyota To Share Its Know-How To Help Soup Kitchens in Coney Island
and the Far Rockaways Reduce Wait Times and Serve More People
Toyota
and Food
Bank For New York City today announced Meals
Per Hour, a partnership to support a soup kitchen and a mobile
food unit in communities severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy — Coney
Island and the Far Rockaways. The initiative is led by the Toyota
Production System Support Center, Inc. (TSSC), which shares Toyota
manufacturing know-how with nonprofits to help improve lives. A short
video about Meals Per Hour can be viewed at www.mealsperhour.com.
Over an eight-week period, a team from Toyota will collaborate with
staff at Coney Island Lighthouse Community Kitchen, a soup kitchen in
Coney Island and Metro World Child, a mobile food distribution unit in
the Far Rockaways, to help improve their operations, with a focus on
reducing wait times so they may serve more people.
Meals Per Hour is not the first time Toyota and Food Bank For New
York City have joined forces. In 2011, Toyota began its partnership with
Food Bank For New York City to provide the necessary tools for soup
kitchens and food pantries across New York City to streamline their
operations, maximize their resources – and more importantly – reduce
customers’ wait time. The results at five agencies were very positive;
the outside line at Food Bank For New York City’s Community Kitchen &
Food Pantry in West Harlem decreased from 1.5 hours to just 18 minutes.
In all, TSSC has worked with nearly 200 companies and organizations for
over 20 years.
“At Toyota, we believe that when you share good ideas, great things can
happen,” said Lisa Richardson, Toyota process improvement leader. “We
were struck by how many people on Coney Island and in Far Rockaway were
still struggling to get back on their feet nearly six months after
Hurricane Sandy. Meals Per Hour gives us an opportunity to help
by donating our know-how with the Coney Island Light House Community
Kitchen and Metro World Child mobile food unit. By working together to
help more families get their basic needs met, we hope to make a huge
difference in improving lives.”
“Hurricane Sandy changed the profile of the people who use our services
and the demand for food on Coney Island and in Far Rockaway is still
very high,” said Margarette Purvis, president and CEO of Food Bank For
New York City. “Organizations like Coney Island Lighthouse Community
Kitchen and Metro World Child are more important than ever. That’s why
we are so excited to welcome the team from Toyota. If we can make our
lines move more quickly and get more food to those who need it, we can
ease some of the burden on community members and support them as they
rebuild their lives.”
Mini-Documentary and Social Media Campaign To Inspire Conversation
Supermarche, the production company helmed by award-winning filmakers
Rel Schulman and Henry Joost, creators of the feature films Catfish
and Paranormal Activity, will produce a short five-minute film on Meals
Per Hour that will chronicle the work of the Toyota team and Food
Bank For New York City staff as well as its impact on community members.
In addition to Supermarche, four social influencers, each from a
different lifestyle sector and each with their own significant
following, will serve as ambassadors by documenting the project on
MealsPerHour.com and through Twitter chats and “Blog Hops”, which is
when several bloggers raise awareness of a particular issue by linking
to each other’s posts about the same topic. The Meals Per Hour
ambassadors are:
-
Vera Sweeney, Lady and the Blog: A New
York-based mother of two and one of the nation’s best-known mom
bloggers;
-
Sian Pierre Regis, Swagger New York + MTV Act:
Founder and editor-in-chief of Swagger New York and contributor for
MTV Act;
-
Migdalia Rivera, Latina on a Mission + Stiletto
Media: A New Yorker, single mother of two, and popular Hispanic
blogger; and
-
Mary Catherine Brouder: Documentarian and
journalist with a focus on human rights, who has reported for CNN,
CBS, IFC, PBS, among others.
About The Toyota Production System Support Center (TSSC)
The Toyota Production System Support Center (TSSC) is a not for profit
corporation affiliated with Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing
North America, Inc. (TEMA). Established in 1992, TSSC shares Toyota's
production system knowledge with North American manufacturing companies
and other community organizations. In 2011, TSSC became a not for profit
in order to donate on-site support to help worthy nonprofits maximize
their impact. Since its inception, nearly 200 organizations have
benefited from TSSC's services. TSSC's team is comprised of team members
from Toyota manufacturing affiliates in North America and from TEMA
headquarters in Erlanger, KY. To learn more about TSSC please visit
tssc.com.
About Toyota
Toyota established operations in North America in 1957 and currently
operates 14 manufacturing plants. There are more than 1,800 Toyota,
Lexus and Scion dealerships in North America which sold over 1.8 million
vehicles in 2011. Toyota directly employs more than 37,000 people in
North America and its investment here is currently valued at more than
$23 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and
development, financial services and design. Toyota's annual purchasing
of parts, materials, goods and services from North American suppliers
totals nearly $25 billion.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaInAction.com or
www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
About Food Bank For New York City
Food Bank For New York City recognizes 30 years as the city’s major
hunger-relief organization working to end food poverty throughout the
five boroughs. As the city’s hub for integrated food poverty assistance,
Food Bank tackles the hunger issue on three fronts — food distribution,
income support and nutrition education — all strategically guided by its
research. Through its network of approximately 1,000 community-based
member programs citywide, Food Bank helps provide 400,000 free meals a
day for New Yorkers in need. Food Bank’s hands-on nutrition education
program in the public schools reaches thousands of children, teens and
adults. Income support services including food stamps, free tax
assistance for the working poor and the Earned Income Tax Credit put
millions of dollars back in the pockets of low-income New Yorkers,
helping them to achieve greater dignity and independence. Learn how you
can help at www.foodbanknyc.org.
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