Toyota and VH1 Save The Music Help Music Education Get a Second Spin

TORRANCE, Calif., April 27, 2016 -- Last fall Toyota and VH1 Save The Music Foundation brought music education to LaPlace Elementary, a New Orleans area school. This year they will do the same for another deserving school.

Launching at Stagecoach in Indio, California on April 29, Toyota will have an interactive activation running throughout the festival season. Festivalgoers can share their participation in the activation space on social media using #ToyotaGiving to show their support, while simultaneously increasing music education awareness. The social campaign benefits VH1 Save The Music Foundation, a national nonprofit organization committed to restoring music education programs in America's public schools. A $30K donation will be given to a designated school, chosen at the end of the six festival run.

This is the second philanthropic partnership between VH1 Save The Music and Toyota. The 2015 campaign culminated with a surprise appearance by pop singer Santigold in a school assembly last October at LaPlace Elementary. Toyota and VH1 Save The Music, in partnership with Santigold, presented the underserved, public school with a grant to provide students with a music education program for the first time in over a decade.

The socially conscious brands will again collaborate, to set their sights on raising money through a festival activation comprised of large-scale pointillism art pieces, built using plexiglass and multicolored globes. Festivalgoers and artists will be invited to write or draw their answer to the important question – "What Does Music Mean to You?" – on the globes, which will then be added to the art piece.

As the day progresses, the mural will evolve as it slowly fills up with hand drawn pieces. By the end of each festival day, the art will be displayed for festivalgoers to check out their handiwork, complete with hundreds of personalized messages speaking to the importance of music.

"Altruism is at the forefront of our brand, so we're thrilled to partner with VH1 Save The Music to support music education across the country," said Steve Appelbaum, National Engagement Marketing Manager, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. "Cultivating curiosity and creativity is so integral to our nation's progress and VH1 Save The Music is the perfect partner to help Toyota invest in the quality of education across the country."

"We are very grateful for Toyota's commitment again this year to join us in providing students the exceptional benefits of instrumental music education," said Henry Donahue, executive director of the VH1 Save The Music Foundation. "The same way that musicians collaborate to move an audience, our combined efforts allow us to create meaningful impact for kids and schools."

Full Tour Schedule

Indio, CA	Stagecoach Festival	April 29 through May 1, 2016
Daytona, FL	Country 500	May 27 through May 29, 2016
The Gorge, WA	Sasquatch	May 27 through May 30, 2016
Dover, DE	Firefly	June 16 through June 19, 2016
Chicago, IL	Lollapalooza	July 28 through July 31, 2016
New Orleans, LA	Voodoo Music + Arts Experience	October 28 through October 30, 2016

ABOUT VH1 SAVE THE MUSIC FOUNDATION
The VH1 Save The Music Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education programs in America's public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child's complete education. Founded in 1997, VH1 Save The Music was the first organization in existence dedicated to restoring music programs in America's schools. For more than 18 years, we've donated over $51 million worth of new musical instruments to 1,964 public schools in 233 school districts around the country to date -- impacting the lives of more than 2.3 million public school students. VH1 Save The Music Foundation's 2016 national sponsors include Toyota, JetBlue, Avnet, Alex and Ani, CMA Foundation, NAMM, The ASCAP Foundation and VH1. #SaveTheMusic by getting involved at vh1savethemusic.org and joining the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @vh1savethemusic.

About Toyota:
Toyota , the world's top automaker and creator of the Prius and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, 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 30 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 44,000 people (more than 34,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (1,500 in the U.S.) sold more than 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.5 million in the U.S.) in 2015 – 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. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

SOURCE Toyota