Burning up the highway is burning a hole in drivers' wallets.

Compared to last summer, it costs $20 more to fill up an average $25 gallon tank. It seems the only number going down is the value of the actual gas guzzlers themselves.

Kendrick Arnett, of Fort Worth, wanted to get rid of his Ford explorer. He said it’s expensive to drive, so he decided to donate it to Texas CAN Academy.

Texas CAN's donation lot in Arlington is full of SUVs, large cars and more boats than they've ever had. In fact, they have twice as many as they did last year.

CAN’s Cheryl Rios said customers are “saying the gas is so much money, it's not worth it to sell it. I can't trade. Value is ridiculous. We would rather help a kid.”

And help children is just what they are doing. The increase equals out to an extra $10,000 a week to educate at-risk kids.

In the meantime, the casual boater's day on the lake is also at risk. When one considers the cost to fill up an average-sized boat for a day on the lake it is $120.

In today's economy, some families are finding the only way to fight Uncle Sam is with a tax write-off.

E-mail mjepson@wfaa.com