Georgetown car club makes donation for school lunch deficit

The Georgetown Texas Area Car Club donated $750 to help pay off some of the lunch deficit balances in the Georgetown Independent School District.

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) -- The Georgetown Texas Area Car Club donated $750 to help pay off some of the lunch deficit balances in the Georgetown Independent School District.

In total, the school district received $5,700 from various donors in the past year to help pay off the lunch deficit, but there is still a negative balance of $9,250 across all student accounts, according to a district spokesperson.

Reduced or free lunch program

The district spokesperson said the pandemic and high inflation impacted family budgets, and families can not always pay for the school lunch. In fact, 42% of the student population in GISD qualify for a reduced or free lunch program, but there still may be more families who qualify for the program and have not filled out the proper paperwork, according to the spokesperson.

GISD said it will not let kids go hungry and will take on any deficit to provide a meal. If the school district does not get enough donations to pay remaining deficit, it will cover the remaining cost.

Lending a helping hand

The car club decided to provide some help to this deficit after reading about it in a local media report. Don Landry, the treasurer of GTACC, said the 132-member club makes quarterly $750 donations to local organizations and charities. That money comes from its annual car show every May.

After seeing how large the deficit was, the car club members voted to help the school district because they felt kids needed to be well nourished to stay focused in class.

"With their ability to have lunch during the school period, we think that will enhance their ability to learn as they grow older," Landry said.

It's not the first time the car club has helped students in the district. This year, Landry said the club donated $18,150 in scholarships to seven graduating seniors who successfully completed the automotive technology program at Eastview and Georgetown high schools.