SHAH ALAM: UMW Toyota has raised a total of RM151,000 from its Toyota Outrun event held at Bandar Rimbayu, Kota Kemuning, Selangor.
The 8km run around the Bandar Rimbayu township is the company’s inaugural event of its kind, with the funds derived from the participants’ registration.
Over 3,000 participants turned up including 20 people with multiple disabilities who demonstrated their own iteration of “Start Your Impossible” (SYI).
Akio Takeyama, deputy chairman of UMW Toyota Motor said: “UMW Toyota Motor is very pleased to be able to support physically challenged people who wish to participate in sports.”
President of UMW Toyota Motor, Ravindran K. added, “We thank all the participants for joining us at this Toyota Outrun today and contributing towards a good cause. The funds collected should be useful for the Paralympic Council of Malaysia in its activities and we will certainly be looking at how we can offer more support in the future.”
Thanking UMWT for the contribution, Datuk Subramaniam Raman, vice president of Paralympic Council of Malaysia, said that the Council will utilize the funds for its “Fitness & Exercise with Persons with Disabilities” initiative.
SYI is a long-term campaign in conjunction with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, encouraging everyone to "challenge their impossible".
UMWT has upheld its corporate social responsibility (CSR) – apart from providing products and services to the Malaysian society – and SYI is part of its contributions to social change as well as in supporting its principal, Toyota Motor Corporations (TMC).
SYI will comprise of two elements, the Toyota Outrun charity fun run and Toyota Classics, a musical charity event.
Under the SYI banner, UMWT introduced a Dual Heroes Concept which describes a local athlete who is constantly fighting against dual odds - on the field, and in life.
Through this concept, the company has chosen Abdul Latif Romly, Malaysia’s first Paralympian named as Sportsman of the Year in 2016 as its SYI Ambassador.
Latif was selected to become Malaysia’s SYI Ambassador as he was up against the impossible at the 2016 Summer Paralympics where the world saw him break the T20 long jump world record 3 times on the same day.