AARP, Toyota to Provide Rides for Vaccine Appointments

AARP, Toyota and local Dallas organizations via a new transportation initiative* are using the AARP Ride@50+ program where multiple modes of transit can be found can now book rides, including transportation for COVID-19 vaccine appointments. It’s just one of the progressive initiatives that Toyota funds and supports. The support in Texas is ironic given Republican control of state and local politics, the ongoing support of GOP lies about the Presidential election results, and active anti-democracy attempts to suppress voting and other constitutional rights.

AARP also actively promulgated Republican denials about the seriousness of the Covid pandemic, going to the absurd point of giving Deborah Birx, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under President Donald Trump from 2020 to 2021, a forum. Dr. Birx sat idly by at a White House briefing as Trump promoted the use of bleach taken by humans to fight Covid.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the time said, “I don’t have confidence and anyone who stands there while the president says, ‘Swallow Lysol and it’s going to cure your virus.’ … I don’t have confidence in somebody when the president says it’s a hoax, it’s magic,” Pelosi said on CNN. “She has enabled [Trump].”

In another socially beneficial program, Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) is working with community partners such as Asian Pacific Islander American Scholars (APIA Scholars), is building upon its longstanding support of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community by  increasing funding by $1 million to 11 national and local AAPI organizations.

TMNA has six priority areas with AAPI partners:

  • Racial Justice to combat xenophobic rhetoric and a rise in violence against the AAPI community through Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC.
  • Education to create pathways for educational and career success, as well as programming that fosters deepened cultural awareness through APIA Scholars, Japanese American National Museum (JANM), Ascend and Ascend North Texas, Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), Leadership Education of Asian Pacific’s (LEAP), and Japan American Society (JAS) DFW.
  • Mobility for improved access to healthcare services through Keiro.
  • Advocacy for increased AAPI representation in government through Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS).
  • Small Business Support to address Asian-owned businesses which have been hardest hit during the COVID-19 pandemic through National ACE.
  • Financial Education to promote wealth-building and financial empowerment, particularly among the low-income AAPI population through National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (CAPACD).

“We stand stronger together, unified by our shared values and collective mission to create limitless possibilities and happiness for all,” said Sean Suggs, Chief Social Innovation Officer, TMNA. “By focusing our work in these priority areas, we’re helping eliminate barriers so that members of all generations can thrive.”

*For more information visit www.aarp.org/ridedallas or call 1-800-466-1461. The program is currently serving residents in Richland and Lexington County, South Carolina; Dallas County, Texas; and Washtenaw County, Michigan.

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