Toyota Works with Salvation Army to Provide Food, Boots and Socks

The Salvation Army is an international movement with a focus on meeting local needs. With nearly 60 years of experience, the international nonprofit assists 23 million Americans annually to meet human needs without discrimination.  

Their three-step approach guides how they engage in each community. Through first accessing the specific needs of the community, they work to understand the obstacles, hardships and challenges to the area’s particular population. Next, they build programs designed to offer immediate relief, short-term care and long-term growth in areas that will best benefit the community. Then, they offer local programs to the community, working to continually optimize efficiency through spiritual, physical and emotional service.

This approach to local communities is part of what drew Toyota to start working with the Salvation Army in 2010 through the Walk in My Boots program. The program reaches various cities during the coldest months of the year with much needed wool socks and boots. Toyota has donated more than 5,900 pairs of boots and socks to families in Detroit; Baltimore; Chicago; Washington, DC; Harrisburg, Penn.; and Minneapolis.

In 2020, the Toyota Lexus Minority Owners Dealership Association (TLMODA) began working with Salvation Army on an annual Day of Service in May. The event has since shifted to a date near the Thanksgiving holiday. This past year, 33 dealerships participated across the US and donated more than 3,000 boxes of food in a single day. The boxes of shelf-stable food are then delivered to families in the local community.