CRANBERRY TWP — A township auto dealership recently donated to three school districts in neighboring Beaver County to help students in need.

Baierl Toyota gave $22,181 to Ellwood City Area School District to pay off outstanding student lunch debt; $20,000 to Big Beaver Falls Area School District's student emergency fund, which provides food and supplies to students; and $20,000 to Brighton Area School District for its weekend backpack program.

According to Michael Hull, general manager of the dealership, Toyota provides money to dealerships to give back to their communities. He said officials recently learned about Eastern Pennsylvania students dealing with similar issues of hunger and school lunch fund delinquency, and the potential ramifications parents faced because of it.

“It kind of rubbed a lot of people the wrong way,” Hull said of student hunger issues.

Hull reached out to local districts to see if they faced similar challenges, and found a need in the three districts. He said the news of the donations caused shock, disbelief and appreciation from school officials.

The dealership will continue to look for similar causes in the future, Hull said.