CAMPERS, COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTE TO GOOD CAUSE
Souderton Area Community Education Summer Adventure Day Camp hosts Alex’s Lemonade Stand
SOUDERTON AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT » A lot of the people stopping at the Souderton Area Community Education Summer Adventure Day Camp Alex’s Lemonade Stands July 27 at Franconia Elementary and Oak Ridge Elementary schools didn’t come for something to drink.
“We always ask, and say, ‘What would you like?’ but a good amount of people are just stopping to give us donations,” Jaime Ernst, the art director at the Oak Ridge camp, said.
“They just want to donate to help out the cause, which is awesome,” Lloyd Waldon, director of the Franconia camp, said.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand, which was started by Alexandra “Alex” Scott, who passed away of cancer in 2004 at age eight, has raised more than $150 million for research and programs to help families struggling with childhood cancer, according to information on www.alexslemonade.org.
Before taking part in the lemonade stand, the students are given information about Scott and the reason for the lemonade stands, Ernst and Waldon said.
“They’re tough conversations to have, but they seem to understand,” Ernst said.
“They each have donation boxes that they take home,” she said, “so at that time, when
they’re learning about the box and taking it home, we also talk to them about what Alex’s Lemonade Stand is.”
“We go through the whole program,” Waldon said.
“We watch a video,” he said. “They understand why we’re donating to this cause.”
For several of this year’s camp members, it was the third or fourth year they were taking part in the Alex’s Lemonade Stand, he said.
“All the kids love doing the lemonade stand every year,” he said.
The day camp, which is
for students in kindergarten through seventh grade, was in the sixth of its nineweek run, Ernst and Waldon said. There were about 80 students at each of the two camps that week, they said.
The lemonade stand seemed to be going well, both said early in the afternoon. Showers came through later in the afternoon, pushing the lemonade stands indoors at least temporarily.
During part of the day, the students took turns standing in front of the school waving signs to attract passing motorists.
This year, Oak Ridge also put up signs at various other places in Harleysville directing people to the school and lemonade stand on Moyer Road,
Ernst said.
This year’s goal was to raise close to $2,500 between the two lemonade stands, said Brenda Oelschlager, Souderton Area Community Education’s coordinator.
Additional donations credited to the SACE lemonade stands may be made for about a week afterward by going to www. alexslemonade.org, clicking on the “donations” button and searching for “Souderton Summer Adventure Camp.”
The Franconia Elementary stand also got a supporting visit from Telford Voluntary Fire Company and the Franconia Township Police Department, along with camp members being photographed with the police car and fire truck. “We enjoy doing the stand. The kids love it. We love it as a camp to help give back to the community,” Waldon said.