ALLOUEZ, WI (WTAQ) – Two ten-year-old girls are trying to stomp out bullying.
Ireland and Isabella Kirkpatrick are running a lemonade stand, with all proceeds going to bullying-awareness organization ‘Stand for the Silent.’
Ireland explains how they learned about the cause.
“My mom donates $20 every month to Stand for the Silent, and then she was telling us about what they do to tell all the kids that their son lost his life to suicide.”
Stand for the Silent was founded by Kirk and Laura Smalley of Oklahoma, whose 11-year-old son Ty committed suicide after being bullied.
The Smalleys now travel the country, visiting schools to discuss the matter with students.
Ireland and Isabella hope to raise enough money to bring the Smalleys to the Green Bay Area Public School District.
The former notes why the cause is important to her an her sister.
“Because my brother got bullied in elementary and middle school.”
The girls’ mother, Tracy Kirkpatrick, says her daughters’ charitable initiative didn’t come as a surprise.
“If they see any kind of a stand that needs donations or anyone on the side of the road that’s asking for donations, they make me pull over, and I have to donate money, regardless of the amount. They have to help everyone that they see that needs it.”
In addition to running the lemonade stand, Tracy says her daughters have recently donated weekly allowances to the charity.
Local law enforcement is also helping the cause.
Both the Brown County Sheriff’s Office and Allouez Police Department have promoted the stand on social media and have officers sporadically dropping by to support the effort.
Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Vogel notes bullying has been on the rise in recent years.
“Now you have Facebook, you have all this internet. We see a lot of those complaints now.”
The stand is located at 600 Sunrise Lane in Allouez and runs from 8 am to 4 pm both Friday and Saturday.
