How much did P. Terry's raise for Season for Caring on Saturday?

The P. Terry's Burger Stand at William Cannon Drive near MoPac Boulevard was hopping Saturday morning. The drive-thru line started to back up and the restaurant tables were filling up, all before noon.

"It's been a busy morning," said Caleb Trauvdt, the assistant general manager at that location. "Giving Back Day is always our busiest day."

Each December, P. Terry's donates 100% of that day's profits at all of its 26 Central Texas locations to the Statesman's Season for Caring nonprofit program. This year Giving Back Day raised $41,113 for Season for Caring's 11 local nonprofit organizations: Any Baby Can, Austin Palliative Care, Breast Cancer Resource Center, Caritas of Austin, Community Action of Central Texas, Family Eldercare, Foundation Communities, Hospice Austin, Interfaith Action of Central Texas, Meals on Wheels Central Texas, and Wonders and Worries. It was the single biggest Giving Back Day.

"Central Texas comes out every time," Patrick Terry, the co-founder of P. Terry's, said Tuesday. "We prepare this gift together."

Rosie Pierce and her husband, Joseph, brought their two sons to eat at P. Terry's on Saturday.

"We are happy we can actually make it," Rosie Pierce said. "This is awesome."

Season for Caring, which is celebrating its 25th year, highlights the stories of local families nominated by local nonprofits, and then the Statesman asks the community to give. The featured families' needs are taken care of first, but then hundreds of other families are helped through the local nonprofits.

Learn more: 12 families featured in the 25th Season for Caring program. Here's how you can help.

This is the 15th year P. Terry's has designated Season for Caring as its December Giving Back Day recipient. It has raised $425,798 for Season for Caring through its Giving Back Day and more than $1.5 million for local charities through its quarterly Giving Back Day.

P. Terry's started as one burger stand on South Lamar Boulevard in 2005. Almost immediately it started giving back to the community. Its first Giving Back Day check went to the Boys & Girls Clubs for a few thousand dollars, co-founder Kathy Terry said a few years ago when it reached $1 million in donations. Giving that check and seeing the recipient cry made a lasting impression.

Now those checks are for up to $40,000 each quarter as P. Terry's adds restaurants. Next year, it will open its first two Houston locations, two new locations in San Antonio, and one in Austin on East Seventh Street in March.

The Giving Back Day recipients change every quarter, and P. Terry's looks for local, well-respected nonprofits to benefit from the day's profits. Earlier this year, in Central Texas, it donated to Our Shared Kitchen, Austin Angels and STARRY, which help Austinites by providing food and support for families, people experiencing homelessness and people in the foster care system. A San Antonio-based nonprofit benefits from San Antonio locations.

Since 2009, Season for Caring has been P. Terry's choice for the December Giving Back Day because of the program's consistency, Patrick Terry said. "You spread the goodwill of Austin to the charities that need to be served," he said. "It makes the contribution easy and seamless."

This year a lot of Season for Caring money will be spent by the local nonprofits on keeping people housed as the price of housing in Austin has grown in recent years.

"It's nothing fancy," Terry said. "You put a roof over their head. We just do in one day what you guys do for weeks and months," he said of Season for Caring.

Season for Caring has given local nonprofits more than $18.5 million since it started in 1999. The nonprofits can only use Season for Caring money for basic needs for their clients such as rent, transportation, food, medications and utilities. Through its partner Austin Community Foundation, Season for Caring has no overhead, except a 1% fee for the foundation to process the donations and credit card fees.

With the P. Terry's donation, Season for Caring has reached $250,000, halfway to the goal of meeting the Sheth family's $500,000 match by Christmas.

This year, Season for Caring is helping families such as that of Tracey Piper in Bastrop. The grandmother had a brain tumor in 2019, but at the same time, a relative needed someone to take care of her infant son after the state became involved. Piper adopted Zaire, now 4, who has autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

It's also helping the Watkins family in North Austin. Both Rebecca Adamson and Chris Watkins served in the Marines. They became homeless and are rebuilding their lives for children Leon, 8, Keiko, 2, and Lucas, 1, after living in motels and a shed.

Also receiving help is the Mukire family in East Austin. The refugees from the Congo lived for 15 years in refugee camps in Burundi after their village was invaded. They have two daughters with cerebral palsy and other developmental delays.

About Season for Caring

The Statesman will be sharing the stories of all 12 Season for Caring families throughout the holiday season. Find more stories and information at statesman.com/seasonforcaring. You can donate online or use the coupon on Page 2B and mail it to Austin Community Foundation, c/o Statesman Season for Caring, 4315 Guadalupe St., Suite 300, Austin, TX 78751. Make checks payable to “Statesman Season for Caring.” Now through Dec. 25, all monetary donations will be matched up to $500,000 by the Sheth family.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: P. Terry's Giving Back Day for Season for Caring