Benton, Ill. -"We won the car!" is a statement Carol Sluzevich has been waiting to make since competition began.
"Toyota selected Mentors 4 Kids as a finalist in their 100 Cars for Good program and the votes are in," she said. "We won a new Toyota Camry to use in our program. We were one of five finalists and all of us are thrilled to not only be in the running but to actually be a winner.
"We are not sure how long it will take to receive the car, but Mentors 4 Kids could not be more elated," Sluzevich said.
The past president and board member sent several emails requesting people to vote on July 10 and said all of the votes paid off.
"We were selected as one of the 500 nonprofit finalists by Toyota's philanthropic initiative in which the automaker gave 100 cars to 100 nonprofit organizations over the course of 100 days," Sluzevich said. "Mentors 4 Kids was selected as a finalist from more than 4,000 applications nationwide."
A six-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty will be provided compliments of Toyota Financial Services, she said.
Sluzevich said the vehicle would be use for travel in the seven Southern Illinois counties the program serves while conducting in-home interviews of potential mentors and mentees, meeting with children in their homes or schools to conduct quarterly assessments, speaking publicly to promote the organization, and meeting with other organizations who collaborate with Mentors 4 Kids in generating mentor and mentee referrals.
"A new vehicle would really allow us to better manage our transportation costs while providing our staff with a safe and reliable means to do their job more effectively," she said.
