A group of West De Pere middle school students are selling lemonade to raise money for children fighting cancer, Aug. 8, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A group of middle school students are selling lemonade to raise money for a cause near and dear to their hearts.
12-year-old Ava Winters and around 10 of her friends organized the fundraiser in honor of Ava’s sister, Ella, who has leukemia.
Their booth is called “Lemon Market, The Stand of Helping Hands.” Along with lemonade, baked goods and homemade crafts are also for sale.
All of the profits will be donated to Children’s Wisconsin and the Ronald McDonald House Charities. Ava said the goal of the fundraiser is to help families like hers who have a child fighting cancer.
“I wanted to do this just to give back to all of the people and all of the places and just everyone who has helped us through this, because it’s a tough time,” Ava said.
The Ronald McDonald House is so special because I can’t stay, us kids can’t stay, there at the hospital when Ella stays there, but we can just go right next door. There’s a very convenient skywalk that you can just go right next door to the Ronald McDonald House and we can stay there and it’s so nice. There’s great hospitality and there’s free food and it’s amazing.
Ava said it took about a month for her and her family and friends to prepare everything. Their original goal was to raise $500, but when that number was quickly surpassed, they upped their goal to $2,500.
The success of the fundraiser is evident on a big, colorful poster tracking their progress. It shows the students have already hit the $2,000 mark, well before the conclusion of the first day of fundraising.
“We’re probably going to need a new one tomorrow,” Ava said of the poster. She added how grateful she is to the community for supporting the cause.
“I’m so surprised how big this has gotten, but I’m so happy about it,” Ava said. “It feels so good inside, because all these people just want to help. It makes me realize there are a lot of good people in this world.”
Ava’s lemonade stand will be open again Friday from noon to 6 p.m. at the corner of Lawrence Drive and Creamery Road in West De Pere.
If you can’t make it to the booth, Ava asks that you make a donation directly to Children’s Wisconsin and/or the Ronald McDonald House Charities.
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