THE HOPE INSTITUTE FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES’ hard work in building its social networking presence has been rewarded with a 2011 seven-passenger Toyota Sienna mobility van.
GREEN TOYOTA recently presented the institute, which serves children with multiple developmental disabilities, with the Toyota Sienna as part of the TOYOTA 100 CARS FOR GOOD program.
The program donated 100 vehicles over 100 days to 100 nonprofit organizations based on votes from the public. Only Facebook members could vote.
More than 3,000 nonprofits nationwide applied for the program.
“They winnowed that down to 500 what they called ‘finalists,’” said MARK SCHMIDT, spokesman for the institute.
“Then, each day for 100 days, beginning in June and running through the end of August, they had five of the finalists go head-to-head in social media voting on Facebook.”
For any particular day, voters had a choice between five nonprofits.
“Our day was July 2. Whichever nonprofit got the most votes on that one day received a new Toyota vehicle of their choice,” Schmidt said.
“We chose the van. …We won with not quite 60 percent of the vote.
“We were very excited about that. We were pleased that we had strong support on Facebook.”
The Hope Institute has been working since October 2009 to build its social networking presence – adding Facebook friends and having a presence on Facebook for all of its programs. The institute’s website has been retooled to make it more social-network-friendly. People can find its Facebook fan page by searching “The Hope Institute” on Facebook.
Social networking is how the Toyota 100 Cars for Good program came to the institute’s attention.
“Mylas Copeland, the general manager at Green Toyota, was a rock for us. I mean, he was a hero – worked with us to help promote the contest, to help get out votes,” Schmidt said.
“They leveraged some of their advertising dollars to put word about The Hope Institute. They used their social network partners to help vote for us.”
The van generally can transport two adults and up to five children for the institute, Schmidt said. Children need transportation to medical appointments, a vocational training program and field trips.
“It has a mobility-equipped seat in it. We can transport a child from a wheelchair into the seat,” Schmidt said. “The seat swings out, lowers to the ground, or then swings back up and into the van. It’s going to make moving our children with physical disabilities a lot easier.”
Founded in 1957, The Hope Institute for Children and Families is a nonprofit center providing educational, residential and health services to children ages 5-21 with multiple developmental disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorders.
The ILLINOIS PORK PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION, ILLINOIS CORN MARKETING BOARD and ILLINOIS SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION presented 4,200 pounds of ground pork to the CENTRAL ILLINOIS FOODBANK as part of the “Pork Power: Partnering to Fight Hunger in Illinois” campaign.
The foodbank distributes nearly 6.4 million pounds of food per year to more than 160 food pantries, soup kitchens, residential programs and after-school programs in a 21-county region.
Tamara Browning is a columnist and feature writer for The State Journal-Register. She can be reached at 788-1534 or at tamara.browning@sj-r.com.
Copyright 2011 The State Journal-Register. Some rights reserved
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