Home Depot Employees Build Lemonade Stand To Help Raise Money for Age 4 Boy with Cancer
When you’re young and you want to help someone in a tough spot, what do you do? You may not have a very nuanced idea of money and the real world yet, but you know that money seems to help people in need.
Since you’re a kid, your options are limited. You could do chores or, with a little help, set up a sale of some kind.
The summer staple, of course, is lemonade. There are few things as summery and American as kids getting a taste of business through running a drink stand.
That’s what 8-year-old Christian and his mother, Dawn Redmon, decided to do when they found out a close friend’s family was struggling with both health and finances.
According to the GoFundMe set up by family members, Silas Cipollone was only 4 when he was diagnosed with an aggressive childhood cancer known as Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma.
The family was already having a difficult time with money issues, and when they found out their son was also dealing with stage 4 cancer, they were crushed.
“Silas was going to start VPK in the fall and his mommy was looking forward to moving back into the workforce after being a stay at home mom for 4 years,” one of Silas’s grandparent wrote on the GoFundMe page.
“All of that has now changed. Silas will be undergoing chemo for 54 weeks and his immunity to fight infection will be very low, he will not be able to go to school and his mommy will remain a stay at home mom as long as he needs her.”
They clearly have enough to work through on their own, which is why Redmon and her son wanted to step in and help.
“They’re trying to get used to what their new normal is going to be,” Redmon said, according to CBS News.
Redmon knew that to get a lemonade sale in full swing, they first needed to build a stand. She called a local Home Depot, told them their plan and ask if they’d be willing to discount the materials for a good cause.
Home Depot agreed to help out, and Redmon expected nothing more than to get a bit of a discount and then go home to build the thing herself — but when she showed up at the store on Aug. 21, she was met with a welcome and unexpected sight.
There was the lemonade stand, built and painted, just waiting for her to take it! “My heart is so full and I am so touched by the AMAZING ladies at Home Depot who made this possible for me!” Redmon posted on Facebook.
“To know that people still exist and do things like this just makes me so happy!” she continued. “You all went above and beyond and I cannot thank you enough!! Home Depot in Apopka is the BEST!”
Word of Redmon’s plan and Cipollone’s story has spread and made waves. Now an event is being planned for Sept. 1, and the lemonade stand will be just one element.
“Other businesses in the community are now helping with the event. I have businesses donating things to our raffle,” Redmon said. “Their good deed went way beyond the lemonade stand.”
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