DAPHNE, Ala. — Someone is looking out for parents’ pocket books and students’ best interests; Terry Thompson Chevrolet will sell gas for 66 cents a gallon at 7 a.m. on Monday.

The car dealer will sell up to 5,000 gallons — 15 gallons per person — with all proceeds going to Daphne, Fairhope and Spanish Fort enrichment programs, according to Thompson.

“We’ve always supported the school systems and the schools themselves,” he said. “We just realize how important a quality education is.”

With gas around $4 a gallon, the dealer will spend about $20,000 on fuel, Thompson said.

Plus, the educational enrichment programs will receive $4,500 — $1,500 each — even though the income from the gas sale would total about $3,500, he said.

Thompson said he wants to alleviate the strain of gas prices during a time of back-to-school expenses, while helping the enrichment community.

And the educational organizations appreciate the support, they said.

“Everyone there (at Terry Thompson Chevrolet) is totally committed to education and that is certainly paying a dividend in the schools and in the community,” Denise D’Oliveira, Supporting Educational Enrichment in Daphne’s Schools’ spokesperson, said.

The funds will help Daphne’s five public schools and Christ the King Catholic School through a teachers’ grant that funds additional programs and classroom materials such as digital cameras, puppets and Promethean boards, she said.

Spanish Fort’s organization is also grateful.

“It shows that even in these hard times, people can still give back,” Sandra Bostrom, executive director of Spanish Fort Educational Enrichment Foundation, said.

The proceeds will help their teachers’ grant program and provide materials for the city’s new middle school, she said.

Some of the money will also support Fairhope Educational Enrichment Foundation.

“We are absolutely honored that Terry Thompson has once again chosen to support our organization and our community,” Ginger Taylor, public relations coordinator for Fairhope Educational Enrichment Foundation, said. “The whole community benefits when businesses become involved, and FEEF is proud that we are recipients of Mr. Thompson’s generosity.”

The event comes at a time when gas prices are at their highest.

Gas averaged $3.46 a gallon just in April — 73 percent paid for crude oil; 10 percent for refining; 6 percent for distribution and marketing; and 11 percent for taxes, according to fuel economy.gov, which is maintained jointly by the U.S.  Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and  Renewable Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection  Agency.

Today, the cheapest gasoline in Daphne was at Murphy USA on Wal-Mart Drive at $3.939 per gallon.

It seems that prices will continue to rise.

According to the Energy Information Administration at its Web site eia.doe.gov, West Texas Intermediate crude oil cost $72 a barrel in 2007, cost about $127 a barrel in 2008 and is projected to reach $133 a barrel in 2009.

The remaining months of 2008 will see prices above $4 a gallon, according to the site’s short-term energy outlook.