Alvarado High School band members are left stunned after an estimated $46,000 was misappropriated from their band booster club.
"I think we're all still in shock. Kind of a little bit heartbroken because we have worked so hard for it," said Laura Aguirre, Alvarado booster club president." In the last 24 hours it's been kind of a whirlwind."
Alvarado police said 38-year-old Kirsten Meyer, the booster club treasurer, confessed to spending the club's money on personal items and bills since 2015. In a press release, police added Meyer noted the amount taken had become "bigger than she could handle."
Now, other parents are scrambling to raise money to make up for the loss.
"We regroup, and that's what we're working on, and we are going to do whatever it takes to take care of our kids," Aguirre said.
The band's end-of-the-year banquet is now in question.
"That's coming up Friday and we literally have no funds to do that," Aguirre said. "We usually do scholarships for our band seniors. We can't do that."
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For heartbroken high school students, it's just another lesson. This lesson is in the classroom of life.
"I think what they are going to learn from this is how we handle it from this point forward," Aguirre said. "How we show them how we keep moving. How this doesn't define us."
According to police, Meyer paid the Alvarado Band Booster Club $22,000 in an attempt to compensate.
Donations are being accepted at Alvarado First Financial Bank.
MORE: How to help Alvarado Band Boosters
