Toyota Awards $1 Million in Scholarships to 100 High School Seniors

Winners at top of class in both academics and community service 


SAN ANTONIO, May 9  /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., (TMS) rewarded 100 high school seniors with $1 million in college scholarships for their commitment to education and community service at an awards banquet tonight.

The winners, who make up the 12th class of Toyota Community Scholars, were chosen from a pool of more than 8,000 students nationwide nominated by their schools.  To be eligible, students must be proven leaders both in the classroom and in their communities.

Based on its accomplishments, the 2008 class learned at an early age that "giving back" to the community was not an obligation, but, rather, a way of life.  As one Scholar, Jacob Rouse of Union, Ky., put it: "When helping others, an incredible feeling is instilled in your veins.  This feeling allows you to believe you have meaning in the world."

For the 2008 class, their dreams of making a difference became reality through programs ranging from raising $120,000 for the American Cancer Society to collecting over 3,000 pounds of food that was distributed to youngsters at more than 160 schools.  In addition, one scholar - a cancer survivor and amputee - has personally visited over 600 patients with the same afflictions, providing them with gift boxes.

"It is truly amazing to see what these 100 high school seniors have accomplished at such a young age," said Michael Rouse, TMS corporate manager of philanthropy and community affairs.  "Their dedication both to academics and community service is an inspiration to all of us."

The scholarships are valued at $20,000 or $10,000 each, over four years, for study at a four-year college or university starting in the fall of 2008. Since the Toyota Community Scholars program began in 1997, TMS has awarded over $13 million in scholarships to 1,200 students across the U.S.

Kristen Allcorn, a Toyota Community Scholar from Sedalia, Mo., is a prime example of the dedication to community service exhibited by this year's class. As the founder of The Community Cafe, Allcorn and her group of volunteer students have provided over 11,000 free evening meals to needy residents in her hometown.  Hot meals are served five nights a week, with plans to expand that to three meals each day, seven days a week.

All told, Allcorn and her group have raised over $13,000 to keep The Community Cafe operational.

Consequently, Allcorn, like many of the Scholars, found community service to be the roadmap to what she wants to do in the future.  "I never imagined the impact The Community Cafe would have on my community or myself.  The Community Cafe has influenced my career plans, and I have committed to living a life of service."

The Toyota Community Scholars program is administered by Educational Testing Services in Princeton, N.J.  The 12 national winners ($20,000 each) and 88 regional winners ($10,000 each) were selected by a panel of college and university admissions officials from across the U.S.

The scholarship winners were guests of honor tonight at an awards banquet in San Antonio that was attended by education, community, business and government leaders.  Liz Murray, subject of the Lifetime Television movie, From Homeless to Harvard, was the keynote speaker.

The two-and-a-half-day program included a tour of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, Inc., in San Antonio, which builds the Tundra full-size pickup truck.  In addition, the Scholars enjoyed an authentic Texas BBQ dinner, with games, entertainment and dancing at the Rio Cibolo Ranch.

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion in the United States, marketing products and services through a network of 1,427 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers in 49 states.  Established in 1957, TMS and its subsidiaries also are involved in distribution logistics, motorsports, and research and development.

  NOTE:
  *A list of Toyota Community Scholars is attached.
  *A "snapshot" of specific community service projects is attached.


*Upon request, digital photographs of individual Scholars can be sent electronically.  Please e-mail request to:  aeggers@guthriemayes.com.

                     2008 TOYOTA COMMUNITY SCHOLARS


                           CITY                   HIGH SCHOOL

  ALABAMA
  Nicole Bohannon        Sheffield            Sheffield High School

  ALASKA
  Ceylon Mitchell        Anchorage            East Anchorage High School

  ARIZONA
  Joanna Yang *          Phoenix              Desert Vista High School
  Teri Yu                Phoenix              Desert Vista High School

  ARKANSAS
  Ashley Louks           Judsonia             Pangburn High School
  Michelle Martin        Jasper               Jasper High School

  CALIFORNIA
  Albert Chen *          Buena Park           Oxford Academy
  Theodore Gonder        Glendale             Crescenta Valley High School
  Carlos Guzman          Dinuba               Dinuba High School
  Monica Liu             Rancho Palos Verdes  Palos Verdes Peninsula High
                                               School
  Jasmine Nachtigall     San Mateo            Hillsdale High School
  Rita Sandoval          Desert Hot Springs   Desert Hot Springs High School
  Zachary Stauber        Gold River           Mira Loma High School
  Gregory Woodburn       Ventura              Ventura Senior High School
  Danni Xie              Thousand Oaks        Westlake High School

  COLORADO
  Bret Johnson           Fountain             Fountain Ft. Carson High
                                               School
  David Rolla            Commerce City        Adams City High School

  CONNECTICUT
  Laura Ly               Shelton              Shelton High School

  DELAWARE
  Virginia Nicholson     Wilmington           Tower Hill School

  DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
  Margaret Birkel        Washington           National Cathedral School

  FLORIDA
  David Akinin           Miami                Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior
                                               High School
  Sarah Hodges           Leesburg             First Academy
  Lauren Rowe            Gainesville          Eastside High School
  Bernadette Stocker     Flagler Beach        St. Joseph Academy

  GEORGIA
  Jordan Croom           Marietta             Walker School
  Caterina Li            Duluth               Duluth High School
  Kanya Manoj            Duluth               Woodward Academy
  Laura Okolie           Riverdale            Riverdale High School

  ILLINOIS
  Maddelynn Hawkins      Pinckneyville        Pinckneyville Community High
                                               School
  Elena Holler           Sherman              Williamsville High School
  Christine Mattappillil Glenview             Glenbrook South High School
  Kathleen McGlynn       Belleville           Althoff Catholic High School

  INDIANA
  Eric Majors            Indianapolis         Pike High School

  IOWA
  Briana McGeough        Cedar Falls          Cedar Falls High School

  KANSAS
  Nandini Sarma          Overland Park        Shawnee Mission East High
                                               School

  KENTUCKY
  Deep Aggarwal          Louisville           Dupont Manual High School
  Jacob Rouse *          Union                Larry A. Ryle High School

  LOUISIANA
  Danielle Axelson       Bossier City         Airline High School
  Shanell Booker         Monroe               Wossman High School
  Niharika Jain          Shreveport           Caddo Parish Magnet High
                                               School

  MAINE
  Thomas Balch           Newcastle            Lincoln Academy

  MARYLAND
  Maria Sebastian *      Boyds                Northwest High School
  Eric Weisberg          Bethesda             Walt Whitman High School
  Xuemin Zhang           Burtonsville         Paint Branch High School

  MASSACHUSETTS
  Marie DeLuca           Stow                 Nashoba Regional High School
  Luke Fraser *          Hopkinton            Hopkinton High School

  MICHIGAN
  Casey Hoffman          Menominee            Menominee Area High School
  Alexandra McGregor     Waterford            Waterford Kettering High
                                               School
  Mitchell Rivard        Bay City             Bay City Western High School

  MINNESOTA
  Shanna Decker *        Plainview            Plainview-Elgin-Millville High
                                               School
  Caitlin Johnson        Rochester            Century High School
  Megan Sjostrom         Lafayette            GFW High School

  MISSISSIPPI
  Abigail Hardin *       Clinton              Jackson Academy
  Lynice Higgins         Hazlehurst           Hazlehurst High School

  MISSOURI
  Kristen Allcorn *      Sedalia              Smith-Cotton High School
  Lauren Lacey           Troy                 Troy Buchanan High School
  Kathleen Russell       Webster Groves       Cor Jesu Academy

  MONTANA
  Chelsea Brauer         Forsyth              Forsyth High School

  NEBRASKA
  Wayne Banks            Bellevue             Bellevue West Senior High
                                               School
  Keshav Rao             Omaha                Brownell-Talbot School

  NEVADA
  Brian Choe             Las Vegas            Advanced Technologies Academy

  NEW HAMPSHIRE
  Jeffrey McInnis        Greenville           Mascenic Regional High School

  NEW JERSEY
  Sharon Kim             Fort Lee             Bergen County Academies
  John Monagle *         Clark                Arthur L. Johnson High School
  Becky Moran            Pleasantville        Home schooled
  Jolene Wang            Piscataway           Piscataway High School

  NEW YORK
  Eason Hahm             Chestnut Ridge       Spring Valley Senior High
                                               School
  Jason Mogen            Dix Hills            Half Hollow Hills High School
                                               West
  Nastasha Pollard       Stony Point          North Rockland High School
  Brittany Robles        Smithtown            Smithtown High School West
  Sheel Tyle             Pittsford            Pittsford Mendon High School

  NORTH CAROLINA
  Elizabeth Carney       Charlotte            Myers Park High School
  Ryan Hollander         Winston-Salem        Forsyth Country Day School

  NORTH DAKOTA
  Alex Windjue           West Fargo           West Fargo High School

  OHIO
  Ann Cheng              Cincinnati           Walnut Hills High School
  Jacob Potticary        Loveland             Loveland High School

  OKLAHOMA
  Carly Schnaithman      Garber               Garber High School

  OREGON
  Richie Day    Salem                         South Salem Senior High School

  PENNSYLVANIA
  Christopher Shotter    Monaca               Monaca Junior/Senior High
                                               School

  SOUTH CAROLINA
  Tyler Bridges          Sumter               Sumter High School
  Graham Van Schaik *    Columbia             Spring Valley High School

  SOUTH DAKOTA
  Nicholas Stukel        Burke                Gregory High School

  TENNESSEE
  Sharda Fields          Memphis               Whitehaven High School
  Caroline Hadley        Knoxville             Bearden High School
  Chandler Lawson        Tullahoma             Tullahoma High School

  TEXAS
  Trevor Burbank *       Flower Mound          Flower Mound High School
  Nicole Castro          Keller                Keller High School
  Mark Hernandez         Eagle Pass            C.C. Winn High School
  Marilyn Mootz          Dallas                Highland Park High School
  Jasmine Thum           Austin                Liberal Arts & Science
                                                Academy
  Kavita Venkateswar     San Antonio           Winston Churchill High School

  UTAH
  Sydney Hartsell        Salt Lake City        Rowland Hall St. Mark's
                                                School
  VIRGINIA
  Ian Akers              Radford               Radford High School
  Ariel Talts            Danville              Galileo Magnet High School
  Sydney Tenhundfeld     Charlottesville       Renaissance School

  WASHINGTON
  Erik Hille *           Ritzville             Ritzville High School
  Sarah Klemsz           Battle Ground         Prairie High School
  Brian Tolkin           Mercer Island         Mercer Island High School

  WISCONSIN
  Brittaney Check        Wauwatosa             Wauwatosa East High School
  Rachael Lester         Cedarburg             Cedarburg Senior High School


  * National winner - $20,000 scholarship

  All others receive $10,000 scholarship



                    2008 TOYOTA COMMUNITY SCHOLARS
                      Community Service Snapshots



Following is a small sampling of community-service projects performed by the 2008 class of Toyota Community Scholars (more detail can be provided upon request; student interviews can also be arranged).

  -- Surviving cancer and an amputation inspired this Scholar to found the
     Hearts of Hope project, where she mentors and personally visits cancer
     patients and amputees as they undergo treatments and/or recover from
     limb loss.  Over the past nine years, she has visited more than 600
     patients, and dedicates more than 300 hours of service per year to
     patients and their families.  She funds the project herself with money
     earned from a part-time job.
    (Shanna Decker, Plainview, Minn.)

  -- Founded The Community Cafe, a soup kitchen that has provided more than
     11,000 meals to the needy.  The Community Cafe has also raised more
     than $13,000 from civic groups and individuals.  Hot meals are
     currently served five nights a week; the program also provides a
     take-out meal service.  This Scholar hopes to expand The Community Cafe
     to offer meals three times each day, seven days a week to ease hunger
     and help to relieve the financial strain of the people served.
     (Kristen Allcorn, Sedalia, Mo.)

  -- This Scholar helped raise $21,000 to benefit Team River Runner, an
     organization that rehabilitates wounded U.S. soldiers at a local
     hospital by teaching them to kayak.  The majority of the funds bought a
     new transport van as well as three new kayaks for the wounded veterans
     to use.  His work with the organization has helped raise awareness
     about the wounded soldiers recovering at nearby Walter Reed Hospital.
     (Eric Weisberg, Bethesda, Md.)

  -- In 2005, founded Beyond All Borders - a project that aims to help
     children suffering from weekend hunger.  The program has since
     collected over 3,000 pounds of food for distribution to more than 160
     schools in New Jersey.  Beyond All Borders has also expanded its focus
     to global-hunger issues by reaching out to help alleviate Kenya's
     hunger problems.  This student's group also raised $5,300 to plant five
     acres of passion fruit for 50 Kenyan farm families.
     (John Monagle, Clark, N.J.)

  -- Based on the need for programs focused on character-development in
     children, this Scholar started a non-profit foundation called the Open
     My Eyes Foundation, which carries a message encouraging students to see
     every person as valuable.  By means of the book she has authored, Look
     At Me I Am Just Like You, this Scholar has led discussions with over
     1,500 children, ultimately raising awareness that leads students to
     accept diversity.  She is confident that her project will help put an
     end to loneliness, racism, suicides, self-centeredness and bullying in
     forthcoming generations.  (Abigail Hardin, Clinton, Miss.)


Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.