Project 2030 — a noble idea for our kids’ future

GONZALES — A few weeks ago a meeting was held at a local eatery.

One of the two men present at that meeting was Bob Burchard. During the lunch meeting, Burchard told his companion that he had an idea that would help the educational quests of people who grew up in Gonzales County.

HIs idea was simple. Why not create a scholarship endowment, he asked rhetorically, that would pay college tuition for students who attend, then graduate from Gonzales County high schools? According to Burchard’s plan, we should strive to create an endowment that would reward any student who started school in the county this year and graduated in the year 2030 with free tuition at the local community college in Gonzales. Call it Project 2030 he suggested.

“What do you think of my idea?” he asked his luncheon companion.

Well he made the mistake of asking the right or wrong person—depending on how you look at it. The person he was sitting with was the publisher of this newspaper, Terry Fitzwater. Fitzwater liked the idea so much he decided to try and make Burchard’s dream a reality.

“Bob’s idea was a revelation,” Fitzwater said. “It is a perfect way to help get more local students into college. It was a perfect way to make the community a better place to live, work and play in. And it is a perfect way to help defray the high cost of education.

“So, I said ‘I think I might be able to help.’”

After the luncheon meeting, Fitzwater sculpted Burchard’s idea. He liked the name Burchard proposed, so he decided to call the program Project 2030. Then he came up with a way to possibly fund the scholarship program and hopefully future endowment. Here’s the idea of how it will work: The net profits generated from the Craft Beer portion of the Come & Taste It Festival will be used as seed money to create a scholarship fund at Victoria College. Students who have gone to school in Gonzales County during their elementary, junior high and high school years who graduate in 2030 and beyond would be eligible if they decide to go to Victoria College. The money raised from the festival and future fundraisers will be used to pay for their tuition. It’s as simple as that.

“I have no idea how much money we can raise from this event, but I think we should try to make it easier for our local kids to be able to go to college,” Fitzwater said. “If we can raise enough money, Victoria College has agreed to eventually set up an endowment so that a local Gonzales student who graduates after attending school here can have his college tuition paid for — if they go to Victoria College.

“I think Bob’s idea is wonderful, and is an endeavor worthy of our effort.”

Thus, Project 2030 is no longer an idea or a dream. It is now a goal.