When is P. Terry's Giving Back Day for Season for Caring? Everything you need to know.

Get ready. P. Terry's Giving Back Day to benefit the Statesman's Season for Caring program is happening on Saturday.

When you stop by one of P. Terry's Burger Stand's 26 Austin-area locations Saturday and order a burger or milkshake or fries or anything else on the menu, P. Terry's will donate all the profits to Season for Caring.

This will be the 15th time P. Terry's Burger Stand has given a day's profits to the Statesman program.

The annual tradition has raised $384,685 for Season for Caring through its Giving Back Day. P. Terry's has given more than $1.5 million through its quarterly Giving Back Day program to local nonprofits.

What is Season for Caring?

For 25 seasons, the Statesman has highlighted the needs of local families nominated by trusted local nonprofit organizations. We tell their stories and invite the community to give monetary donations or in-kind goods or services on the families' wish lists. Once the featured families' needs are taken care of, the nonprofits use donations to help hundreds of other families they serve with basic needs such as rent, food, clothing, medical care, transportation and electricity.

Since 1999, the program has raised more than $18.4 million that has gone directly into the community. The funds are handled by Austin Community Foundation, which deducts a 1% fee to process all donations and credit card fees. Everything else goes to the nonprofits, which can use the money only for the featured families' wish lists or for basic services for its clients. Season for Caring funds don't go to salaries or overhead expenses.

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

Why does P. Terry's host Giving Back Days?

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 check went to the Boys & Girls Clubs for a few thousand dollars, co-founder Kathy Terry said. Giving that check and seeing the recipient cry made a lasting impression.

Now those checks are for up to $40,000 each quarter.

“The reason we do it, it’s not to pat ourselves on the back,” co-founder Patrick Terry said a few years ago. “We feel lucky that we’re able to do this, that the city of Austin has embraced our business,” he said.

Why does P. Terry's choose Season for Caring?

Each quarter, P. Terry's chooses a different local nonprofit to receive the day's profits. This year, it has 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.

With Season for Caring, P. Terry's is able to give to multiple local nonprofits in one day.

P. Terry's continues to choose Season for Caring for its December Giving Back Day because of the reputation it has built, CEO Todd Coerver said.

"You make it easy to give back," he said after last year's Giving Back Day.

People want to give locally, and they also want to give to a cause for which it has been verified "that the money is going to go to the right thing," he said.

Who is Season for Caring benefiting this year?

This year Season for Caring benefits local nonprofits 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.

These are longtime Austin organizations that help people experiencing homelessness, offer support to people experiencing cancer and other devastating illnesses, help strengthen at-risk families, welcome refugees and lift up people living in poverty.

How can you help Season for Caring?

Read the stories at Statesman.com/seasonforcaring. Each family has a wish list of needed items, plus an online wish list on Amazon, Walmart or Target.

The biggest need is always monetary donations to help more families throughout Central Texas. Now through Dec. 25, all monetary donations are being matched by the Sheth family.

To give, find the daily coupon on Page 2B in the print edition or mail a check 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.” The online donation form is also with every story.

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