Cave Spring residents sell LemonAid to fight pediatric cancer
CAVE SPRING–Even the 79 percent humidity and threat of thunderstorms was not enough to deter Cave Spring residents from raising money to fight pediatric cancer last weekend.
They, along with children and adults throughout Southwestern Virginia, set up old-fashioned lemonade stands for Anthem LemonAid. Cups of lemonade were sold for $1 each, and 100 percent of the proceeds benefitted the pediatric oncology clinic at Carilion Clinic Children’s Hospital. Each participant who registered received a free kit including lemonade mix, cups, a pitcher, signs, and even a lemon-shaped hat. In addition to the traditional neighborhood LemonAid stands, participants are able to raise money with an online stand, which is active until July 31.
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, a Virginia-based health insurance company, along with the non-profit Children’s Miracle Network, have been sponsoring a Richmond-based LemonAid stand fundraiser for nine years. For one weekend a year, children and businesses set up lemonade stands, and the proceeds help young cancer patients in the Richmond area. Last year, enthusiasm for the program prompted Anthem to bring the fundraiser to Roanoke as well.
There were almost 70 LemonAid stands in the Roanoke Valley last weekend, on street corners, in store fronts, at restaurants such as the Brambleton Deli and Annie Moore’s Irish Pub, and in retirement communities. In fact, the participants at Brandon Oaks retirement home may have had the most success. Resident Sidney Miller, who organized the event there, also sold food to raise additional money. Positioned right outside the dining room, the scent of popcorn and homemade hot dog chili lured many hungry seniors to the fundraiser.
Brandon Oaks retirement community residents (from left) Marie Beckett, Pearle Thompson, and Sidney Miller got dressed up to sell lemonade, hot dogs, chips, and popcorn on July 17, as part of Anthem LemonAid, a fundraiser for pediatric cancer. Photo by Kristin Adams
Miller’s goal was to raise $1,000, and even with the storm, he surpassed expectations. The Brandon Oaks LemonAid stand raised $2,620.75, and 100 percent of that money will go towards children fighting cancer.
Miller is a cancer survivor himself. During his own chemotherapy treatments, he witnessed children fighting, and beating, cancer themselves.
“And if that doesn’t inspire you, I don’t know what will,” Miller said.
When he heard about the LemonAid event, he knew he wanted to organize a stand at Brandon Oaks to raise money. Brandon Oaks staff and residents helped out, wearing aprons, vibrant hats, and, in one case, a hot dog necklace.
While area seniors were enthusiastic, the fundraiser was actually designed for children, not just to raise money, but to raise awareness. The theme of Anthem LemonAid is “Kids helping kids fight cancer.” They were certainly doing that on Saturday.
Six-year-old Aaron Grant was quick with a response when asked why he had set up a LemonAid stand on Saturday.
“So we could help people that are sick,” Grant said.
Cave Spring residents (from left) Brandon West, Audrey and Aaron Grant, and Jacob West raised money for pediatric cancer on July 17 with their lemonade stand for the Anthem LemonAid fundraiser. Photo by Kristin Adams
Grant, his siblings Joshua and Audrey, and neighbors Brandon and Jacob West set up a LemonAid stand on their residential street corner. As cars drove by, the children shouted, hopped, and paraded cups of lemonade to entice passers-by. In many cases, their ploys worked. Cars continuously stopped for the enthusiastic children, and drivers often donated more than the required dollar for a cup. Several mentioned that one of their relatives had suffered from cancer themselves.
The Grants and the Wests, who live at the bottom of Bent Mountain, made $35 in the first hour of their shift, which ended at noon. They finished up just in time; at precisely 12:00, the clouds rolled in, and the rain started to pour.
In the Tanglewood Mall area, the Jamisons were also feeling the effects of the weather.
“We just moved it inside,” Jennifer Jamison said about the family’s stand.
The Jamisons have a good reason to support pediatric cancer treatment. Six-year-old Libby Jamison, an exuberant child with fiery red hair, is a leukemia survivor herself. She was just four years old when she was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. What her parents thought to be bruises turned into a year of chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and complete hair loss. Yet the four-year-old, with a strength that adults would envy, never lost hope.
Jamison was treated at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where hundreds of cancer patients, many of them children, are treated every year. With more money, more children such as Jamison can be saved. And more money is just what events such as LemonAid hope to provide.
The Jamison’s lemonade stand was open from 12:30 until 2:00, and while rain may have diminished their profits, several neighbors stopped by to show their support.
So while rain may have put a damper on the day, it certainly had no effect on the children’s enthusiasm. Even cancer cannot keep these children down for long, which may be why businesses such as Anthem feel so motivated to assist. And as the children who gave up half a day to raise $40 or $50 know, every little bit helps.
