TUPELO, Miss. (Dec. 20, 2022) – More than 200 Toyota Mississippi employees put assembling Corollas on hold for a week and joined Santa’s ranks to bring holiday goodwill and cheer to the region.

The Blue Springs automaker had a scheduled production pause during the week of December 19 and took the opportunity to deploy a portion of its workforce into the community — on company time — to volunteer for various organizations’ projects and initiatives.

“When we’re not building the world’s best-selling vehicle, we’re building communities,” said Tiffannie Hedin, corporate communication manger for Toyota Mississippi. “Using this non-production time to get back into the community and work alongside our partners for the betterment of our region is a privilege and something our team values highly.”

From building homes to delivering meals and even ringing the iconic Salvation Army bells, Toyota team members covered territory in two counties and supported seven different organization with sweat equity. What’s more, Toyota Mississippi also awarded surprise grants to every organization where its volunteers worked and a dozen others totaling $171,000.

And the numbers really stacked up. In total for the week, Toyota and its 247 employees donated just shy of 3,000 hours during the three-day volunteer event. That equates to the time it takes to build nearly 2,000 Corollas. Those impacted by Toyota’s mobilized efforts are:

Volunteer Organizations:

• Union County Good Samaritan
• The Salvation Army of Tupelo
• Traceway Retirement Community
• Lawhorn Elementary School
• Keep Tupelo Beautiful
• Tupelo Humane Society
• Northeast Mississippi Habitat for Humanity

Grant Awards:

• Wear it Well – $10,000
• Pontotoc Habitat for Humanity – $15,000
• MS Children’s Museum – $14,000
• Tupelo JA – $15,000
• MS Council on Economic Education – $5,000
• Itawamba Co. Pratt Memorial Library – $14,000
• Union Co. Historical Society – $5,000
• Salvation Army – $10,000 + 1,200 toys
• Union Co. Development Association – $5,500
• Meals on Wheels of Lee County – $40,000
• 7 Days for the Troops – $20,000
• Crossroads Ranch $5,000
• NEMS Habitat for Humanity – $5,000
• Committee for King – $2,500
• Lawhorn Elementary – $1,000
• Senatobia Tate County Vocational Center – $1,000
• Calhoun County School District – $1,000
• New Albany City Schools – $1,000
• North Pontotoc Choir – $1,000