Chances are you’ve either hosted or bought from a lemonade stand in your lifetime. Lemonade stands are one of the first “jobs” kids have, that entrepreneurial spirit mixing well sugar and water. 

 

I set up that card table in our driveway every summer for years and excitedly collected dimes and quarters as neighbors would stop by and buy a glass on a hot day. Receiving a dollar and being told to keep the change was winning the lemonade lottery. 

 

People across the country set up their own stands this summer as part of St. Jude’s Lemonade Stand in July Facebook challenge. There was no age limit, meaning with parental permission, many kids were embarking on their first endeavor into philanthropy. 

 

Teaching kids to make a difference and give back is one of the greatest tools a parent can give. 

 

18,000 members joined the St. Jude Summer Lemonade Stand Challenge 2024 and raised much-needed funds for the hospital whose mission is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment without a cost barrier to the children who come from all over the world. 

 

In 2024, St. Jude Lemonade Stands raised an incredible $306,157.36!!

 

Nathan and Olivia’s Lemonade Stand raised over $20,000 alone! The stand, hosted annually by the Pennington family of Peoria, Illinois since 2013, has raised over $150,000 over the years for St. Jude’s. 

 

Julie Pennington, Nathan and Olivia’s mom, explains the deep meaning of the stand. “We started in 2013 when Nathan was diagnosed with medulloblastoma. He was 4 and Olivia was almost 3. Our neighbors helped Olivia sell lemonade in our front yard.” 

 

St. Jude’s also hosts Annual Runs which go right past the Pennington’s home in Central Illinois. It made sense to coordinate the stand with the runs! 

 

After Nathan died in 2017, Olivia, then 6, decided to keep the stand going in his memory. With help from friends and family, she has raised over $115,000 since then, a true testament of a sister’s love for a brother whose legacy lives on. 

 

Jeanni Ritchie is a contributing journalist from Central Louisiana. She can be reached at jeanniritchie54@gmail.com.