Last Friday, Gulf States Toyota announced the donation of 12 Toyota Sienna LE vans to two school districts in Mississippi: Lee County Schools and Pontotoc City Schools. 

Each district receives six vans to expand small-group transportation options for students, helping connect them to career readiness programs, afterschool STEM education, internships, tutoring, general enrichment programming, and math and science fairs both within and beyond district lines.

The donation supports Toyota’s $110 million career readiness and community engagement initiative, Driving Possibilities that collaborates with educators, nonprofits and communities to break down barriers to learning, strengthen professional development for teachers, and prepare students for the workforce.

Last year, Toyota committed $5.8 million to be distributed over five years to Lee County and Pontotoc City Schools, two districts neighboring the Toyota Mississippi plant in Blue Springs. Working with local partners, the initiative identified critical needs to help close educational gaps. One of the most pressing issues was transportation, which often prevented students from participating in afterschool STEM learning opportunities. With this donation from GST and its partners at Carlock Toyota of Tupelo, these districts can ensure students have reliable access to transformative STEM opportunities that were once out of reach.

“This fleet of Toyota Siennas is truly a game-changer for our schools,” said Aaron Foster, VP of manufacturing at Toyota Mississippi. “Having access to safe and efficient transportation opens up so many opportunities for schools to participate in programs they would otherwise be excluded from due to transportation barriers. We cannot thank Gulf States Toyota enough for the partnership to help our students go places — on the road and in life.”

“Supporting our customers and the communities where we live and work is at the heart of GST’s mission,” said Eric Williamson, president and GM of Gulf States Toyota. “By helping to remove barriers like transportation, we are ensuring that more students can access the critical STEM programs, internships, and learning experiences that will shape their future success.”