The News Wheel
No Comments

Toyota Helps Huntington, West Virginia Food Bank Feed Locals Faster

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page
Toyota badge

Photo: Daniel

The “Happy Honda Days” may garner a lot of attention for Honda during this time of year, but the automaker isn’t the only brand making the most of this season.

Case in point: Toyota announced today that team members from the Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Viginia (TMMWV) plant have gotten in the holiday spirit by sharing manufacturing and process best practices with the Facing Hunger Food Bank in Huntington, West Virginia. Thanks to the Toyota facility’s efforts, the food bank is on track to feed more people in need more efficiently during this busy season.

The food bank’s backpack program, which provides food to children, increased efficiency by a whopping 600%, for starters. The project also helped bring about a two-thirds increase in warehouse storage.

“Better serving the community was the ultimate goal,” said Charles Jarrell, TMMWV training and development specialist. “More than that, it was incredibly rewarding to watch the food bank staff learn, grow and challenge their assumptions about how best to serve the community. This just goes to show the things we do every day at the plant can be applied anywhere and make a dramatic impact.”

“Being able to help the food bank improve their operations not only benefits the food bank, but it also benefits thousands of people around the Tri-State area,” added TMMWV training and development specialist Michael Smith.

The project mirrors initiatives by the Toyota Production System Support Center, Inc. (TSSC), which for years has provided personnel support and manufacturing expertise to agencies across various industries to help them become more efficient and better at serving communities.

“Toyota’s approach is built around people,” said TMMWV President Millie Marshall. “Knowledge-sharing across industries helps community partners help more people in need, which benefits the communities we live and work in. Once the food bank learned our methodology, they made it their own and utilize it every day.  At Toyota, we believe when good ideas are shared, great things happen.”