Toyota Awards $1 Million in Scholarships to 100 High School Seniors

Winners at top of class in both academics and community service

TORRANCE, Calif., June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.,
(TMS) is rewarding 100 high school seniors with $1 million in college
scholarships for their commitment to education and community service.

The 12 national and 88 regional winners, who make up the 13th class of Toyota
Community Scholars, were chosen from a pool of more than 8,000 students
nationwide nominated by their schools. To be eligible, students must be
proven leaders both in the classroom and in their communities.

Based on their achievements, the 2009 class will continue helping others on
their journey as college students. "I know that I will only find happiness
and fulfillment in my life by dedicating my time to something meaningful -
something that makes a difference in the world, in mankind, or in somebody's
life," said Scholar Ethan Soodak of Silver Spring, Md.

For the 2009 class, their contributions to the global community are far
reaching and range from raising $1.5 million for the eradication of
neurological disease, to providing medical and educational resources for over
4,000 orphans in Southern Asia.

"In these tough economic times, it is particularly rewarding to see these
students having such a tremendous impact in their communities," said Michael
Rouse, TMS vice president of philanthropy and community affairs. "They are
stellar examples of service and commitment and remind us all what's really
important."

Valued at $20,000 each for national winners, and $10,000 for regional, the
scholarships are awarded over four years beginning in the fall of 2009 for
study at a four-year college or university. Since the Toyota Community
Scholars program began in 1997, TMS has awarded over $14 million in
scholarships to 1,300 students across the U.S.

Jourdan Urbach, a Toyota Community Scholar from Roslyn Heights, NY,
demonstrates the dedication to community service by the members of this year's
class. As the founder of Children Helping Children (CHC), Urbach established
Concerts for a Cure to utilize his gift as a talented violinist to raise $1.5
million in the fight against neurological disease. CHC funds provide
materials for music therapy in pediatric playrooms, medical equipment, home
healthcare for patients with advanced disease and grants for cutting edge
neurological research.

Determined to create a "youthquake" across the globe by putting a face on
philanthropy in healthcare, Urbach has encouraged 700 young musicians to get
involved in this international movement.

"I have learned through my years of service that there is no age limit for
doing something extraordinary for humanity," says the scholar. "My dream is
to see symphony orchestras and young soloists working together in every city
around the world, raising funds and awareness to cure neurological disease
through their art."

The national and regional winners were selected by a panel of college and
university admissions officials from across the U.S. The Toyota Community
Scholars program is administered by Educational Testing Services in Princeton,
N.J.

About Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution
and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion. Established in 1957, TMS
markets products and services through a network of more than 1,400 Toyota,
Lexus and Scion dealers. Toyota directly employs more than 34,000 people in
the U.S. and sold more than 2.2 million vehicles in 2008.

NOTE:
*A list of Toyota Community Scholars is below.
*A "snapshot" of specific community service projects is below.
*Upon request, digital photographs of individual Scholars can be sent
electronically. Please e-mail request to: tisha@tobinpr.com

2009 TOYOTA COMMUNITY SCHOLARS

CITY HIGH SCHOOL

ALABAMA
Wade Ash Atmore Escambia Academy

ARIZONA
Grace Do Chandler Corona Del Sol High School

ARKANSAS
Cody Hooks Little Rock Wilbur D Mills Univ Studies HS

CALIFORNIA
Nicholas Davis Fresno Clovis West High School
Trevor Geller Foothill Ranch Trabuco Hills High School
Preeya Goyal Temecula Great Oak High School
Tavish Nanda* Alamo Monte Vista High School
Harleen Sethi Modesto Fred C Beyer High School
Ann Wang* Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos High School
Frankie Wong Artesia Gretchen Whitney High School
Connie Wu Cupertino Monta Vista High School

COLORADO
Rachel Buchmeier Loveland Loveland High School
Sarah Linke* Castle Rock Rock Canyon High School

DELAWARE
Rebecca Godwin Milford Milford Senior High School

FLORIDA
Alexis Dempsey Wesley Chapel Berkeley Preparatory
Tura Magley Bradenton Manatee High School
Samuel Morales West Palm Beach Cardinal Newman High School
Rohit Thummalapalli Hialeah American Heritage Sch Plantatn
Andrew Zarzeski Lutz Freedom High School

GEORGIA
Melissa Adams Cumming South Forsyth High School

HAWAII
Kimberly Lee Honolulu Punahou School

ILLINOIS
Kathleen Leinweber Woodstock Woodstock High School
Kevin McDermott Burr Ridge Lyons Township HS N Campus
Gabrielle
Vanspeybroeck East Moline United Township High School

INDIANA
Erin Biel Carmel Park Tudor School
Taylor Sanders Bedford Bedford-North Lawrence HS

IOWA
Jeralyn Westercamp Cedar Rapids John F. Kennedy High School

KANSAS
Melissa Mckittrick Mission Hills Shawnee Mission East High
Dakota Meyers Hoisington Hoisington High School

KENTUCKY
Joseph Konerman Edgewood Saint Xavier High School
Katherine Lutes Union Larry A. Ryle High School
Sarah Rudolph Paducah Paducah Tilghman High School

LOUISIANA
Raven Hollins Bastrop Bastrop High School
Seena Khosravi Baton Rouge Baton Rouge Magnet High School
David Rudd Deridder Deridder High School

MARYLAND
Peter Andes Berlin Stephen Decatur High School
Ethan Soodak* Silver Spring James Hubert Blake High
Sitara Weerasuriya Olney Sherwood High School

MASSACHUSETTS
Emily Cunningham Weymouth Cardinal Spellman High School
Anokhee Mepani Westwood Westwood High School

MICHIGAN
Hemant Gandhi* Okemos Okemos High School
Emily Hsiao Ann Arbor Huron High School
Kathryn Vanham Richmond Richmond High School

MINNESOTA
Ashlee Kephart* Brooklyn Center Park Center Senior High School
Derek Rood Pequot Lakes Pequot Lakes High School
Chantal Wilson Greenbush Greenbush Middle River HS

MISSOURI
Samuel Pelts Warrenton Warren County R-III Senior
Allison Pettit Aurora Aurora R-VIII High School

MONTANA
Kelsey Cable Saint Ignatius St. Ignatius High School

NEBRASKA
Tyler Gifford Harrisburg Banner County Schools
Danika Young Atkinson West Holt High School
Daniel Zhou Lincoln Lincoln Southwest High School

NEVADA
Melanie Malinas Reno The Davidson Academy of NV

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Nicholas Letizio Windham Salem High School

NEW JERSEY
Katherine Adams Rumson Ranney School
Matthew Certner Morristown Morristown High School
Molly Roy Moorestown Moorestown High School
Marisa Sanders Hackettstown Hackettstown High School

NEW MEXICO
Shelby Gonzales Maxwell Maxwell High School

NEW YORK
Mariam Braimah Hauppauge Hauppauge High School
Eugenia Gurvich Hawthorne Westlake High School
Noah Sheinbaum Chappaqua Horace Greeley High School
Sujay Tyle Pittsford Pittsford Mendon High School
Jourdan Urbach* Roslyn Heights Roslyn High School
Alexa Zahl New York Horace Mann School

NORTH CAROLINA
Michael Atkins Pikeville Charles Baycock High School
Julie Crimmins Chapel Hill Chapel Hill High School
Milan Kantesaria Fayetteville Fayetteville Academy
John Turner Raleigh Middle Creek High School

OHIO
Andrew Schultze Kettering Kettering High School

OKLAHOMA
Lashun Oakley Ada Latta High School
Emily Sanders Oklahoma City Western Heights High School

OMAN
Sahar Khan* Muscat American British Academy

PENNSYLVANIA
Rebecca Adelsheim Pittsburgh Ellis School
James Creeley Williamsport Saint John Neumann Regional
Alison Geesey Spring Mills Penns Valley Area Jr-Sr HS
Vinay Trivedi Newton Princeton Day High School

SOUTH CAROLINA
Melanie Zhao Florence West Florence High School

SOUTH DAKOTA
Emily Sperry* Bath Roncalli High School

TENNESSEE
Tiffany Carpenter Thompsons Station Independence High School
John Loehle Wartrace Tullahoma High School
Lauren Lyke Strawberry Plains Jefferson County High School

TEXAS
Molly Dudensing Sagerton Rule High School
Bonnie Duncan San Benito San Benito High School
Julie England Winters Winters High School
Tyler Folse Houston Saint Thomas Episcopal
Patrick Foster Sachse Sachse High School
Aditya Kumar Stafford Stafford High School
Alexa Sassin Houston Saint John's High School
Jordan Sessler* Austin Liberal Arts and Science Aca.

UTAH
Bradley Jencks South Jordan Bingham High School

VERMONT
Chris Appleton* Barre Spaulding High School

VIRGINIA
David Ramish Vienna Thomas Jefferson HS Sci/Tec

WASHINGTON
Brenna Fallon Seattle Seattle Preparatory High School
Lauren Kuhn Aberdeen Weatherwax (Aberdeen) HS
Stephanie Nicholson Camas Camas Senior High School
Misbah Uraizee Bellevue Sammamish High School
Brian Vance* Yakima Selah High School

WISCONSIN
Emily Jordan Black River Falls Black River Falls High School
Natalia Thompson Madison West High School

* National winner - $20,000 scholarship
All others receive $10,000 scholarship

2009 TOYOTA COMMUNITY SCHOLARS
Community Service Snapshots

Following is a sampling of community-service projects performed by the 2009
class of Toyota Community Scholars (more detail can be provided upon request;
student interviews can also be arranged).

-- Founded Children Helping Children (CHC), a musical charity foundation
which raises funds through Concerts for a Cure for hospitals, research
and international medical organizations targeting neurological
disease.
The award-winning concert violinist has raised $1.5 million performing
at numerous benefit concert venues including Carnegie Hall. He has
encouraged 700 young musicians to spearhead CHC satellite chapters
across the nation with the common goal of saving lives through music.
(Jourdan Urbach, Roslyn Heights, NY)
-- Personally inspired by the passing of his grandfather, this Scholar
established SeniorLink to familiarize nursing home residents with
computers, while reaping the benefits of keeping their minds active
and
alert. SeniorLink refurbishes donated computers and distributes them
to
senior centers in Bucks County and northern New Jersey. Since its
inception, the organization has collected more than 75 computers and
also hosts weekly hands-on and user-friendly skill-building sessions
for
seniors. (Vinay Trivedi, Newtown, Penn.)
-- Forever changed by touching stories from orphans while traveling to
Asia, this Scholar created Foundations for Joy to improve the lives of
orphans in Southern Asia. Providing necessities such as food, water,
shelter, medical care, educational resources and vocational training,
the organization distributed $65,000 worth of aid to 4,042 children in
2008. Foundations for Joy works with 37 different orphanages, has
raised a total of approximately $100,000 and is also working to
provide
permanent, reliable sources of electricity to orphanages in Sri Lanka
through the installation of solar generators. (Jordan Sessler,
Austin,
TX)
-- Founded CarbonNeutralVolunteers.org (CNV), which is dedicated to
raising
global awareness on climate change and promoting green lifestyle
changes
through an innovative concept of volunteer carbon credits. Raised
$20,000 for solar ovens in Tanzania and solar water heaters at
Michigan-based Okemos High School and a hospital in Peru. This
student's group has also sold hundreds of CFL bulbs during
door-to-door drives. Having represented CNV at several global events,
his goal is to nurture a new generation of climate leaders. (Hemant
Gandhi, Okemos, Mich.)

-- Beginning as an Eagle Scout service project, this Scholar went the
extra
mile to identify thousands of unrecorded gravesites at a local ghost
town cemetery. Organizing over 2,000 volunteers, his team restored
grave markers, installed headstones, identified 1,100 unknown burials
in
a 1,500 page cemetery book, established a wall of honor for 1,825
individuals, created an information center, fence, road and monument
dedicated to honor veterans from 6 wars. He helped to raise $50,000
in
relation to the project and produced documentaries for The History
Channel and Roots Television. Research was donated to libraries, the
State Historical Society and free websites to connect people with
their
living relatives and heritage. (Bradley Jencks, South Jordan, UT)

SOURCE Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

Tisha Newberry of Tobin & Associates, Inc., +1-818-508-8884, for Toyota Motor
Sales, U.S.A., Inc.; or Tammie Kanda of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.,
+1-310-468-4723