A Little Lesson in Giving

In our area, there is an annual event sponsored by Anthem called Anthem LemonAid: Kids 4 Cancer.  Basically, kids all around the city will set up lemonade stands and sell lemonade for $1 and all proceeds go to benefit children in our area who are battling cancer.  This is an amazing program and I'm very passionate about what it stands for.  The folks at Childrens Miracle Network and our local Children's Hospital do an amazing job coordinating and organzing the event and then providing support to the families who are sponsoring the lemonade stands.  Additionally, all of the funds raised stay here in our local community.  As an extra added bonus, it allows me to get my kid involved and show him what it's like to give back to your community.  I'm blessed that my parents raised me to understand that there are opportunities for each of us to help someone within our own communities and I am committed to passing that perspective on to Ty.  So, each year I try very hard to select some opportunities where Tyler can get involved and see first hand what kind of an impact a little bit of hard work can make. 

This was actually our second year setting up a stand.  Two years ago, Tyler and his dad built him a lemonade stand to use at his first event.  This year, we touched it up a bit and used the same stand. 

Another really awesome thing about this event is that some of our local businesses get involved and allow us to set up our stands in front of their establishments.  In our case, we set up our stand in front of a local Panera Bread and they were even so nice as to provide the lemonade so that I didn't have to constantly mix and pour! 

The day was absolutely beautiful!  The weather was warm and the crowds were flocking to the location where our stand was set up.  Initially, Tyler was so excited!  He got so hyped up every time someone came up and asked to buy a cup of lemonade.



Then, people started coming by and dropping off donations. . .they didn't want any lemonade, just wanted to make a donation.  This got Tyler so excited and every time someone would do it, he would say something to the effect of "A Donation?  No lemonade?  That's so nice.  MOMMY. . .Look!  A donation!"  It was so stinkin' cute! 

As the day went on, Ty started getting a little weary.  He had been working so hard pouring those glasses of lemonade and collecting money that he decided it was time for a break.  So, I allowed him a short break and figured it was a good idea to let the little businessman replenish his energy with a snack.

And yes, I made him wear that hat all. day. long.  It was cute.  How much longer do you think I can get way with that?

However, soon the little bugger decided that one break wasn't enough and he would just self-select when his breaks were.  His stand started looking like this:




Notice something missing?  Yes, it's missing a businessman.  A little entrepreneur.  There was a band playing nearby and he was getting to the point where the band was much more engaging than the customers.  So, that left Mommy to take care of the customers.  It's okay though. . .it was all for a good cause. 

Overall, Ty had a very successful lemonade stand.  $89.35 raised in about 4 hours!