Posts Tagged “children”

Nothing beats a cup of cold, refreshing lemonade on a scorching, hot summer day. And do you know what makes it taste even sweeter? Knowing that the proceeds from that cup are going towards a good cause. That’s exactly how the idea of Alex’s Lemonade Stand was born. In 2000, a 4-year-old cancer patient named Alexandra Scott and her other brother, Patrick, decided to set up “Alex’s Lemonade Stand for Childhood Cancer†on their front lawn in July to help the doctors find a cure for pediatric cancer.

You’ve probably heard of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation which has been extremely successful over the past eight years. They just held their annual (and national) lemonade stands this past month (June 6, 7, 8^th 2008) and raised over $88,000 just from people setting up stands on their front lawns and promoting it by creating online fundraising pages, like the family of Enzo Rissolo who hosted a small lemonade stand in San Diego, California. They set their goal to $10,500 and ended up raising over $12,000 with the help of firstgiving and solid promotion! Or Colleen who started a fundraising page with a goal of $2,000 to support a fellow Moms Club member’s daughter. She raised more than $6,000 online in memory of Chloe Griffith. But it’s not just an annual lemonade stand that brings in the dough. People are setting up events to raise funds for this organization—and using firstgiving pages online to raise even more money.

It’s not just individual donors who are setting up web pages to raise awareness and funds—corporations and business owners are doing their part as well. Store owners, mangers and team members of the Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming Big-O-Tires Stores have set up a site for people to donate to this charity. They have raised $18,564.06 solely through online fundraising! Super Coups also supports Alex’s Lemonade Stand and they have raised $11,541.45. As does Volvo who promised to help Alex reach her goal of $1 million in 2004 and since then has continuously helped. Currently they are offering $100 off Volvo service when you donate $1 to the virtual lemonade stand between June 25^th and July 31^st 2008.

All this started because of a little girl who thought of first giving to others. This just proves that despite the magnitude of giving, every little bit truly does make a difference.

 

Skipping over the spectre of Friday the 13th, we’re looking ahead to Fathers Day this Sunday.  Lots of Firstgiving folks are looking forward to spending time with their dads, and many are dads, Frank recently for the third time!  We wouldn’t dare suggest that you make donation in Dad’s name instead of buying him a tie or some BBQ tongs, but we will take a moment to point out some father-themed fundraising ideas.

Many dads love sports, for one thing, and there are lots of bowl-a-thons and marathons, and even the occasional charity golf event out there. 

But when you get right down to it, fathers day is about family and about dads spending time with their kids, so we figure that celebrating children and their families is the best way to observe fathers day.  There are lots of ways to honor your father - and other father figures in your life - this weekend, so take your pick and have fun!