A Canada Day long weekend lemonade stand brainstormed by Indi Ashworth and Rylee Purington, with help from Rylee’s little brother Connor, raised $717 for Hunger in Moose Jaw and received visits from the police and local singer-songwriter Megan Nash.
“So, my daughter Rylee goes to King George School, and she knows a bunch of kids at King George who use the (Hunger in Moose Jaw) school lunch program,” explained Kayla Haanen, Rylee and Connor’s mother.
“She was asking me what happens in the summer with those kids and if they still get to eat. And she wanted to do a lemonade stand and donate any money they raised.”
Word got around and the trio received support from other children on their block. After finding out what they were doing, several other neighbourhood children decided to spend time sitting with Indi, Rylee, and Connor and help them attract customers.
They were also given a boost by singer-songwriter Megan Nash, who showed up for a lemonade, took pictures with the kids, and directed people to the stand through her social media accounts. Nash is godmother to Rylee and Connor, and the example she sets with her local community work is a big inspiration to them.
“Rylee has watched Megan do so much for the community and she wants to be like her,” Haanen said. “Megan has also involved Rylee in her volunteer work making PB&Js for people experiencing food insecurity.
“The kids were also very excited when the police came, that was fun. But they were excited with everyone, really, they cheered every time someone stopped. And they told everyone what they were raising money for, and Megan and Connor were trying to get people to stop with his little lemon sign, so he was excited that she was there with him.”
The fundraiser was such a success that the kids immediately began planning another one. They want to make it a similar theme and were considering choosing the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon, but will likely end up choosing another local non-profit that supports hungry children.
