Tragedy in Aurora

Tragedy in Aurora

The Dark Knight becomes too real and people are running for their lives in utter fear of death in Aurora, Colorado. 

The headlines in the news show the graphic scenes and there is fear that laces the victims faces. 12 lost their lives and over 50 people were hurt. Among those victims,  were children who were hurt while watching their hero on screen.  We are saddened by this act, and I even experienced the after effects last night when I went to see the Dark Knight Rises when they searched my handbag and cops were patrolling the theatre.  I just hate that it has to be take a tragedy for people to consider people's safety. I often imagine that there could have been something done to avoid this but in truth, humans are in fact the most complex anomaly's and we just cannot predict that these things would happen.

On a good note, Christian Bale and his wife went to Aurora and visited the memorial for the victims and the victims.  It is good that Celebrities and especially those in the movie that was being seen, have gone and show their support in the tragedy. 

How would you lend your support?

Young Drivers...

The dangers of driving is higher in teens

But could we do something to avoid these situations? We are in the time where our young drivers are distracted, whether its with cellphones, friends, or other drivers; the facts remain as they are. 

Do you think certain skills should be taught to young drivers before they hit the roads or would you rather depend on AAA? These are constant questions that run through parents minds when they think of ways in helping the children and the youths of their community. Should we teach them things that they will learn eventually or should we take it upon ourselves to teach them ahead of time? 

Also should advertisements use scare tactic to startled young drivers about the fears of driving?  What can be done to help young drivers instead of scaring them? Any ideas?

Work after bereavement...

Have you ever dealt with the death of loved one and didn't know how to function when you went back to work? When condolences were limited to about less than 10 people to acknowledge that your life has been flipped upside down and all you want to do is cry.

How do you go back to work where everyone's life is normal and yours has made a complete 180º? When my brother passed away, I felt like I had a case of phantom limbs, just waiting for this missing limb to reappear, but it never will. It has only been 6 weeks since he died and I feel people are expecting me to like nothing ever happened. Has anyone ever felt that way before? Then next question is how long does it take for someone to heal?

I try every day to stay strong, not just for my children and loved ones, but for the people who depend on me at work. Truthfully, I think I have tried to put my emotions to the side and just have deal with the hand that I was dealt but in truth, I do not think that is the answer either. So question remains, what is the right answer?

Laura Hidalgo
Social Media Manager

Is helping enough?

Getty Images

Who hasn't been affected by the economy slump we are facing? It doesn't get easier when there are so many charities who are seeking help. Over the past year we have created a social initiative to help our community, but with so many charities in need, we ask ourselves is it enough?

Starting in 2011 through our give back program Westchester Toyota has donated nearly $8,000 to various charities and organizations and continue to help.

But we want to know about the charities that you are passionate about here in Westchester NY and how we can help them. So let us know and we are always looking for new ways to help our community.

Laura Hidalgo

Social Media Manger

Children then & now

I cannot begin to understand the mass amount of technology that is being developed on a daily basis that our children are being submerged with information overload. My daughter that is turning 8 whom was raised watching PBS & Nick Jr including my son who is now 2 years old watches his three favorite shows Thomas, Word World, and Super Why were all raised watching TV; however, after reading various articles wh studies that are indicating that all of this information overload is causing our children to have learning disabilities.

So I question myself am I parenting my children incorrectly by allowing them the luxury of using all this new found technology? Yes I purchased a WII for my daughter but she is only allowed to play games that force her to move her body, I feel its a healthy compromise or am I wrong? My daughter wants a Kindle Fire *or an IPad, which I would never do* but if I provide her these luxuries am I causing harm or good? I want her to have a love for reading like I have developed over the years, am I wrong to believe she will actually use her Kindle for reading or will she discreetly play Angry Birds? Yes I can monitor her but then comes down to the whole trust factor. When do we say NAY to all the technology and teach our kids the joys of playing & drinking from water-hose like we did as children?

As of late I see more children walking down the street with their eyes glued to a screen of some sort whether its an 3DS, PSP, IPod, or any other tablet in the market; I no longer hear the laughter of children playing hopscotch, jump rope, or riding their bikes.

The final questions are: as parents, should we actively involved in play instead of monitoring our children? Are the kids of now happier or were the generations prior happier?

Laura Hidalgo
Social Media Manager

Why we HATE Bullies

12 Year old East Harlem boy driven to suicide because of Bullying. I have read these articles numerously and I just don't understand why? Why are children so merciless and cruel? This child's mother went to the extreme to protect her child and the bullies prevailed by driving her son to commit suicide. In realization of her sons death, she intended to take her own life using the knife she use to cut her sons rope that he used to hang himself. 

As a mother of 2 children, my daughter Naiya was a victim of bullying. I spoke with her teachers and they reached out to the parents.  I just couldn't bare the idea that my child could suffer the fate of this child, so last November I enrolled her at Tiger Schulmann's mixed martial art in Yonkers. It was Sensei Tirelli that gave my daughter confidence to stand up for herself and stop the bullies from picking on her.  

Honestly, this wasn't enough in my mind, I couldn't bare to see another child bullied and so I talked to my General Manager about doing an ANTI-BULLYING campaign in our local school district. I worked with Sensei Tirelli who was on board in participating in the joint effort in stopping bullying from our schools. So in effort in stopping Bullying, we here at Westchester Toyota want you our friends, fans, and loyal readers to tell your school about our ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN. We want you to voice that WE NEED this in our schools so there won't be another child like Joel Morales who had to take his own life to stop the bullies. Please E-Mail me if you would like for me to send our campaign idea so you can forward it to your local school board.

Laura Hidalgo

Social Media Manager

Ultimate Head to Head Battle

OFFICIAL PROMOTION RULES
1. Entrants must be 18 years of age or older and must be local residents of Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, New York County
2. No Purchase, or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win 
3. Participants must “Like” the Westchester Toyota Facebook page, submit their contact info and upload their avatar photo.  
4. If you don’t already have an xBox avatar, you can create one through <a href="http://live.xbox.com/en-US/AvatarEditor" target="_blank">http://live.xbox.com/en-US/AvatarEditor</a>.
5. Save your avatar as an image or take a screenshot of your avatar. Once saved, simply upload your avatar image into the voting application.





6. The 32 people with the most amount of votes on their submitted avatar will be invited to play in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Tournament on Sunday July 8th from 2-5pm. 
7. 32 people invited to the tournament must provide valid id/proof that they are 18 years of age or older on or before July 4, 2012.
8. Winner of the live battle at Westchester Toyota will receive a $500 gift card to GameStop. 
9. Westchester Toyota reserves the right to change any of this promotion or the promotional elements.
10. This promotion is sponsored solely by Westchester Toyota. Xbox is not a sponsor. Void where prohibited by law.
11. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You are providing your information to Westchester Toyota and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for contacting you if you win, and sending a limited number of Westchester Toyota announcements. You can unsubscribe at any time. 
12. Promotion begins May 29, 2012 and ends June 28, 2012. Winners will be notified via email or by phone on July 2, 2012. If winners are unable to attend the tournament, the individual with the next highest votes for their avatar will be invited. This will be done until there are 32 confirmed entrants for the tournament.


If you have any questions, please email lhidalgo@westchestertoyota.com.

Journal News Press 'Give Back' winner

BRAVO! Westchester Toyota announces Westchester Philharmonic as its 3^rd ‘Give Back’ winner

In concert with its giving back philosophy, Westchester Toyota donated $1,500 to the Westchester Philharmonic on Tuesday, April 24^th as its Facebook Give Back promotion winner. 

Westchester Philharmonic is the only fully-professional classical symphony orchestra devoted to serving the people of Westchester County. It brings world-class performers to the concert hall and music education into hundreds of academic classrooms each year.

Having garnered the most votes from fans during ta 90-day voting period on Westchester Toyota’s Facebook page, the Philharmonic becomes the third recipient of Westchester Toyota’s Give Back promotion to benefit local non-profits.

“We can’t believe it’s already the third time that we have an opportunity to give to such a deserving non-profit in our community,” Westchester Toyota GM Rich Prager. “As a family owned dealership we look forward to helping our extended family in the community through future give back initiatives.”

Lenore Eggleston, Director of Marketing and Development, at the Philharmonic said “The Westchester Philharmonic plans to use Westchester Toyota’s generous donation to support its education programs, which bring music to thousands of local school children each year, and to continue to bring world-class talent to our local concert halls.”

Everyone is invited to help “Give Back’ to the community. You’re eligible to vote once you ‘like’ Westchester Toyota at www.facebook.com/WestchesterToyota.

If you’d like to nominate a local charity, please email your suggestion with contact information to socialmedia@WestchesterToyota.com.­­­

For general information, hours and directions, you can visit WestchesterToyota.com.
About Westchester Toyota

Westchester Toyota, located at 2167 Central Park Ave, Yonkers, is a full-service Toyota dealership. Throughout their 20-year history as one of the largest family-owned groups of automotive dealerships nationally, they’ve always remembered their roots as a ‘mom and pop’ business and offer a variety of driver amenities, unique service discounts and quality customer service.

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Hologram Technology

Who saw the Coachella Tupac Hologram? 

As a lover of all things sci-fi, this tickles my fancy for many reasons, but if they can do this with Tupac, imagine other hologram concerts one could go to,"The greats gone but not forgotten concert series" perhaps?  Imagine the possibilities; and picture going to see Elivs & John Lennon?  Who agrees or disagrees? 

Does size matter?

Does size matter? 

Depends on who you ask; but if you are a city dweller and want a car but fear parking, then having a Scion IQ may be the right car for you. So what is different about the Scion IQ? Lets say its the Smart fortwo car has competition now and who could doubt that Scion IQ came out on top in all the review sites. So if you are an urbanite looking for small compact car and can't decide between the Fiat or the Smart Fortwo, well look no further because Scion IQ is better, more affordable, and safer. Don't take our word for it, start your research today or come in and test drive, you won't be sorry.

Toodles!

Laura Hidalgo

Social Media Manager

Westchester Toyota Fundrazr helps Pets Alive Westchester!

The ripples of social media

We recently decided that we would start a blog and we will be honest, we know nothing about blogging other than the facts. Yet in today's industry, car dealerships are becoming fast learners of all things social, viral, and online venturers but it doesn't get easier in the least. What you should know us at Westchester Toyota is that although we are a car dealership, but we are people too. We see the issues that are happening in our community and we wanted to learn how to get involved.

They say one drop can make a ripple and that drop was our General Manager Rich Prager; he has allowed Westchester Toyota to soar to new heights that many dealerships have yet to attain and Social media was his new goal. He had one focus and that was to get Westchester Toyota active in social media, so he hired me, Laura Hidalgo, aka the newest ripple. He saw that I was a jack of all trades, who dabbled from graphic design to video editing to all things social and the kicker was to push Westchester Toyota to get involved in helping those in need. The next set of ripples came in the forms of Alina Fayer, Jaime O'neil, and Prajesh Patel our creative back up team from Sid Patterson Advertising.

Together since June of 2011, we have jumped into helping the community full force and the first way was to create our "Give Back Promotion" where we have 3 charities trying to attain the most votes to win a percentage of cars sold for a of period 3 months. It has been a great success and now we are on our 3rd give back promotion and about to launch our 4th!

 

We later ventured in helping the children in our community and created a design contest called Sketch 4 Westchester Toyota and it was also a great success.

But we didn't stop there, we even helped our furry friends at Pets Alive Westchester creating a Fundraiser and launching the FundRazr app via Facebook and matched dollar per dollar up to $1500 for every donation given by our fans. Our fans raised $1680 and on March 9th we will have an event to present the check to Pets Alive Westchester. Did I forget to mention that one lucky pup will be presented as our honorary mascot and he will be available to be adopted on that day too!

It is these little steps that we hope that gives our friends, family, and clients an insight about Westchester Toyota. We look forward to continue to blog and looking forward in speak with you all soon. 

Laura H.

Social Media Manager