Do Good, Feel Good: Alex’s Lemonade Stand

My Pooks is a sensitive kid.

This is both a good and difficult quality to possess. He cares too much; he cares with his whole heart. Sometimes it gets him in trouble (when he cares too much about what his classmates think rather than standing on his own two feet)…

And sometimes, most times, it’s absolutely glorious.

No, he will not fix your computer. Which is probably good for everyone involved.

No, he will not fix your computer. Which is probably good for everyone involved.

In March of 2012, Pooks announced that he wanted to hold a lemonade stand.

Now, I don’t know about where you live, however, March in New Jersey isn’t exactly prime lemonade stand weather. It might have still been snowing at the time. When I mentioned this to him, his response was “Well, okay. When can we do it?”

I asked his motivation and naturally, he wanted to make money. I’m all about the American Dream but he is healthy, happy and wants for… not much.

Or rather, he wants a lot, gets some and we say “no” to the ridiculous.

I saw the opportunity to turn his dream of a lemonade stand into something special, something more. So, I told him about Alex’s Lemonade Stand and how he could help other children; children who are sick. We looked at the website together, we watched videos together. We read books together. And, just like that his dream got grander and it was no longer solely about himself.

It was about carrying out Alex’s dream.

It was about helping others.

We registered our very first annual Out of This World Lemonade Stand to benefit pediatric cancer research.

And we got working!

Building

Building

And working.

Publicizing

Publicizing

And working.

Lemonading!

Lemonading!

And working some more!

Best little cup carrier this side of the Mississippi.

Best little cup carrier this side of the Mississippi.

Until finally…

lemonadestand4

After all the hard work of preparing our Alex’s Lemonade Stand, we got to work some more! Within two days through the generosity of friends and neighbors, near and far, the Out of this World Lemonade Stand raised $566 for pediatric cancer research.

Let me repeat that because that’s AMAZING. $566!

lemonadestand6

Enjoying a cup of lemonade after two hard days of work (don’t worry, he had more than a cup over the two days!).

The thing about kids, especially kids who’ve got eight years of experience behind them and many more in front of them, is they feel with their entire hearts. It’s up to us to steer them in directions where they can use those feelings, those hearts, to accomplish great things.

We’ll be hosting our second Alex’s Lemonade Stand this coming weekend. We’ve been talking about it since we packed up the stand last year and the goal is to reach (and hopefully surpass!) $600.

We can and we will! (I’ll do a follow up post next week.)

What sort of philanthropic endeavors do you take part in? What organizations speak to you; which do you hold near and dear to your heart? How do you volunteer your time and your efforts? I want to hear all about it!

13 thoughts on “Do Good, Feel Good: Alex’s Lemonade Stand

    • Thanks Shan! The weather looks good for this weekend (which more than I can say for it right now) and we’re sending home fliers with all the kids in L’s school. 🙂

  1. OH MY GAWSH. $566!?!? That IS amazing…. and this is just adorable and makes my heart swoon. Alex is super cute and what a spirit…. and that is by far, the best looking stand I have ever seen. I used to sell lemonade and water on the bike path by my house, but it consisted of a milkcrate and a wagon full of the supplies. We did not make much and normally ended up drinking our supplies….

    We weren’t the best salespersons, my sister and I.

    WHoot! go alex!

    • Alex was definitely the cutest kid! Watching the videos for her foundation and realizing what a big heart she had was definitely contagious to us.

      I love the idea of setting up by a bike path though… we have one of those too! 🙂

    • Thanks so much! We’re trying hard to teach him well and lead him to make good decisions now that he’ll be able to carry through to adulthood. Parenting is HARD, man.

  2. First let me just say what a great kid! And that is a kick ass lemonade stand if I’ve ever seen one. I love seeing young kids getting involved with causes. It’s just a great testament to your parenting. (Nice Job!)I have a few groups that I love getting involved with. I run with a group here in Virginia Beach called Team Hoyt VB. We push children and adults in races in stroller chairs. We are their legs so that they can enjoy the thrill of the race. Nothing brings me more joy than seeing the smiles on these kids faces when the hit the finish line or when they are showing off their medals. Though our group here is the only rider/runner program known with the Hoyt name. There are groups nationwide commonly know as My Team Triumph, I will be running with My Team Triumph-Massachusetts next weekend for a Father’s Day race which will be directly be benefiting them. I’m also a Navy spouse now for 15 years and a Air Force veteran so the military is very near and dear to my heart. I’m getting ready to start training for The Marine Corps Marathon in support of Team Fisher House for the second year now. Fisher House provides military families with a home away from home when a military member or their family is receiving long term medical care. It gives them a little bit of comfort and keeps them close to the hospital without those high hotel costs. Training officially starts tomorrow! (sorry that was a long comment!)

    • Thanks so much, Lisa! I suppose it could have been a less elaborate stand but WHERE IS THE FUN IN THAT? 😉 Plus, we’re using the same one this year so it’s held up pretty well.

      And WOW. WOW. I absolutely love that you run for and with those who can’t. That is truly inspirational. 🙂

      Thank you so much for your service. I’ve actually heard of the Fisher House (I want to say I saw it on CBS Sunday Morning) and I think that is fantastic that you’re running on their Team for the Marine Corps Marathon.

      Never apologize for such a lovely comment. <3

  3. Wow that is totally bitchin’! What an awesome little dude & a really cool mom! Thanks for being the kind of mom that opens up the world to your child! We need more moms like you and more kids like your little man! How awesome!

    • I love you, Beth! It’s easy to teach him these things – his heart is so open and he just WANTS to do good. We want him to learn philanthropy early and carry it through his life. 🙂

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