4-H Advances Environmental Science Education with $1.1 Million from Toyota

CHEVY CHASE, Md., April 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National 4-H Council is pleased to announce that Toyota will continue its support of 4‑H's youth-focused water quality and conservation programming. This $1.1 million gift will fund the expansion of 4‑H2O Community Projects and sponsor the 2012 4-H National Youth Science Day.

4-H₂O Community Projects is a national environmental stewardship program that brings together youth, volunteers and educators within eight land-grant universities to engage in high-quality, research-based science programming developed by the nation's Cooperative Extension System.  Through 4-H₂O Community Projects, youth in California, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, New York City, Texas and West Virginia learn to protect and conserve freshwater resources by participating in activities such as water-quality testing, watershed cleanup events and rain garden construction, all while strengthening math and science skills.   

"Toyota's generous and continued support has vastly helped to strengthen and broaden 4-H's ability to develop and implement high-quality positive youth development programs in environmental sciences," said Donald T. Floyd Jr., president and CEO of National 4-H Council.  "Additionally, the leadership,  engagement and caring support of Toyota volunteers with 4-H Science programming is helping to build the next generation of our nation's scientists and engineers, and is equipping 4-H youth to step up and make measurable differences in their communities."

Toyota will also sponsor the fifth-annual 4-H National Youth Science Day (NYSD). As 4-H's premier rallying event, 4-H NYSD will take place on Oct. 10, 2012, and bring together hundreds of thousands of youth from all across the nation to simultaneously complete the 2012 National Science Experiment. Designed and developed by one of the nation's land-grant universities within the Cooperative Extension System, the 2012 National Science Experiment will focus on Engineering Robotic Solutions. Toyota's sponsorship of this event will help to significantly raise the level of community outreach surrounding NYSD and expand the event's Web presence (www.4-H.org/NYSD).

"For the fifth consecutive year, we're proud to partner with 4-H to continue empowering our nation's youth to protect the earth's resources," said Pat Pineda, group vice president of philanthropy at Toyota Motor North America. "Toyota's partnership with 4-H has already resulted in nearly 10,000 youth saving almost 140 million gallons of water, and we look forward to continuing this momentum in the coming year."

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE: TM) established operations in the United States in 1957 and currently operates 10 manufacturing plants, including one under construction. Toyota directly employs nearly 30,000 in the U.S. and its investment here is currently valued at more than $18 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services and design.

Toyota is committed to being a good corporate citizen in the communities where it does business and believes in supporting programs with long-term sustainable results. Toyota supports numerous organizations across the country, focusing on education, the environment and safety. Since 1991, Toyota has contributed over half a billion dollars to philanthropic programs in the U.S.  

For more information on Toyota's commitment to improving communities nationwide, visit http://www.toyota.com/philanthropy.    

About 4-H:

4-H is a community of six million young people across America learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills. National 4-H Council is the private sector, non-profit partner of 4-H National Headquarters located at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) within USDA.  4-H programs are implemented by the 111 land-grant universities and the Cooperative Extension System through their 3,100 local Extension offices across the country.  Learn more about 4-H at www.4-h.org or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/4-H.

SOURCE National 4-H Council