While members of the community walked to honor the memories of fallen soldiers in the Plainview-Old Bethpage Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 26, there was a small lemonade stand set up on Washington Avenue that was run by a group of young kids to help raise money for children with cancer.
“Lemonade,” they yelled out to the parade. “All proceeds go to help fight childhood cancer!”
This lemonade stand is part of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF), which helps raise money towards finding a cure for childhood cancer.
ALSF was brought to Plainview-Old Bethpage when Sam Weissman received a lemonade stand for his sixth birthday. Weissman, who is now 12, has been helping raise money for ALSF for six years with his siblings David, 14, and Dani, 8, as well as his cousins, Daryn Naiburg-Smith, 14, and Drew Naiburg-Smith, 11.
It has become a neighborhood tradition. All of the Weissman and Naiburg-Smith kids, along with their friends do all the work while the parents sit back and relax.
Memorial Day parade spectators as well as those walking in the parade donated to ALSF while also receiving a refreshing glass of lemonade.
When the Weissman family first heard about ALSF, they decided to get involved. It was the perfect fit: children raising money for a children’s foundation.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand first started in 2000, when a 4-year-old girl with cancer by the name of Alexandria “Alex” Scott wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer.
After Scott passed away in 2004, her legacy lived on in ALSF, which has evolved into a national fundraising movement. ALSF has raised more than $65 million towards finding a cure and funding over 350 pediatric cancer research projects across the nation.
“I feel proud to be a part of something that helps out so much,” Daryn Naiburg-Smith.
Over the past six years, they have raised close to $2,000, including $517 in 2013. This year, Sam Weissman’s goal was to raise more than $600. Instead of having set prices for the concessions, the lemonade stand accepts donations. This year, they made $70 before they even sold a cup of lemonade.
“It’s a nice thing to do,” said Drew Naiburg-Smith. “It makes you feel good that you’re helping other people and supporting them.”
Not only are the kids raising money for a good cause, they are also having fun while doing so.
