Toyota Canada continues support of StopGap Foundation with $100,000 donation

Toyota Canada continues support of StopGap Foundation with $100,000 donation

Posted on September 26, 2024

As a longstanding supporter, Toyota Canada has renewed its national support of StopGap Foundation with a $100,000 donation. The contribution will strengthen StopGap’s awareness-raising, education, and ramp building programs to remove barriers to physical accessibility in communities across Canada.

Since 2019, Toyota Canada’s partnership with StopGap has been rooted in a shared value - inclusion through physical accessibility - underpinned by Toyota’s vision of ‘mobility for all.’

“StopGap’s Community Ramp Project has proven to be a simple yet incredibly effective solution to help make our communities more accessible,” said Leslie Miller, Vice President, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer, Toyota Canada. “We’re proud to continue supporting their efforts to spread awareness and remove physical barriers in order to help build a society where everyone can move more freely.”

The donation will help extend StopGap’s reach and enable even more communities across the country to benefit from the Community Ramp Project and the School Project. By empowering the growth of both programs, StopGap continues to create barrier-free spaces while inspiring a national conversation about accessibility and driving a cultural shift in how Canadians think about disability.

“At some point in our lives, we will all need to rely on a barrier-free amenity, so it’s important to have an accessibility-first approach to design,” said Luke Anderson, Executive Director and Co-Founder, StopGap Foundation. “This starts with making existing spaces accessible, building awareness, and educating Canadians about the importance of inclusive spaces. Over the years, Toyota Canada has been a strong supporter in helping us do this, and we’re thankful for their continued investment in creating an accessible world.”

StopGap Foundation is a registered Canadian charity raising awareness about the importance of accessibility and inclusion. The Foundation’s School Project, Community Ramp Project, and Corporate Team-building program help ensure that society’s understanding of accessibility continues to grow and evolve.

StopGap provides brightly coloured ramps to businesses across Canada to overcome what Anderson calls the “one-step problem”— a single step outside a business that makes the entire building inaccessible to many who use mobility aids. These custom wooden ramps, painted in bright colours, create easier access for people using mobility aids, as well as the elderly, parents with strollers, and couriers. By promoting awareness, the ramps encourage communities to think creatively about accessibility challenges faced by Canadians.

About StopGap Foundation

StopGap Foundation began its awareness-raising journey in 2011 and has since populated the country with over 2,000 ramps in over 60 Canadian communities. Last summer, the grassroots organization celebrated the launch of its first U.S.-based project with more than a dozen businesses with single-stepped entryways in NYC hopping on the awareness-raising bandwagon. The Foundation has a goal of extending its programs to communities worldwide.