They knew nothing about videography, and maybe even less about social media.
So the staff at Morristown’s Community Soup Kitchen and Outreach Center turned to the experts: Kids.
The results rolled into the driveway on Monday, in the form of a new Toyota Sienna minivan. The soup kitchen was the first winner to receive a vehicle in Toyota’s national “100 Cars for Good” competition.
“We never really expected to make it to the finals,” said Terry Connolly, the soup kitchen’s executive director. “So then when we made it and the package came telling us how to get the word out, we panicked a little bit. So we called on three teenagers from our middle school to help us. We figured the kids are the ones who know all about this stuff.”
John Nichols and sisters Anna and Kate Hess made a two-minute video pitch that outpolled competing videos on Facebook. They also helped soup kitchen staff learn how to use social media.
In the past, the soup kitchen had to turn down food offers for lack of transportation. That should no longer be a problem.
About 180 people per day eat at the soup kitchen during the summer. That number may double in winter, Terry said.
The van was presented by Jon Brauer and Anthony Ferrara, co-owners of Morristown Toyota. Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota North America Inc., said Toyota has contributed more than half a billion dollars to U.S. charities since coming to the U.S. in 1957.
Soup kitchen staff anticipated a long way for delivery of the van, because of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March. But Yoshimi said Toyota has rebounded and the company soon will be churning out vehicles at its normal pace..
“Of course, the event (the quake/tsunami) was devastating. But at the same time, you can’t just sit around and complain. You’ve got to start moving, and then get back to normal life,” the executive said.
Our thanks to Andrew Cattano for his logistical help with the video shoot!
READ MORE ABOUT THE SOUP KITCHEN AND ITS WINNING ENTRY
