Community support for Lemonade Stand Day is ‘just amazing’: event chair

Young entrepreneurs picked up their kits for Lemonade Stand Day businesses, on Aug. 24 the lemonade will be sold in support of the Stollery Children's Hospital.

Young, enterprising lemonade vendors picked up their gear ahead of the 12th Annual Lemonade Stand Day.

The event sees thousands of kids and families set up lemonade stands across Edmonton, the capital region and even in Fort McMurray in support of the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation.

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Proceeds from the event will help buy bedside caregiver cots so parents can stay close to their kid during a hospital stay, according to the Stollery.

“It’s just amazing, the commitment we get from families, from the kids and from the community,” said Monita Chapman, the chair of Lemonade Stand Day.

“People love this day, they come out, they support our kiddos and they support the story at the same time.”

The event began in 2014 with 30 stands and has since raised more than $2.5 million for the Stollery. This year, more than 2,500 kids will have around 650 stands set up.

“We did start small, we gave them some lemonade and some cups,” Chapman said. “(Now) we give them a few more supplies … and then we let them run with their creativity and create their own stands, and it’s so magical to watch.”

Participants gathered at Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre to pick up their stand kits ahead of the big day on Sunday.

The kids get poster cards and markers to make signs, lemonade, cups, shirts, megaphones, a thermometer to track donations and a speaker for this year’s theme, throwing a lemonade party.

Lemonade Stand Day is Aug. 24, more information and a map of stands is available online.