7/20/11 - It's Lemonade Time..

My how time flies...our Alex's Lemonade Grand Stand is fast approaching! Now I know what you are thinking. You are thinking....Kristin, you just asked us all for something, rememberrrrrr? The CureSearch Waaaaaalk??? I know, I know, I really did ask you to join our team, begged maybe, if I remember correctly. I couldn't help it. It was the first walk, I was so dang excited about it, I thought I could get away with asking for a couple of things right in a row and then laying low until next year again. Plus the walk was amazing, and if you came I really don't think you regret it. PLUS, I was very clear about not asking for donations for the walk (yes there was a $10 registration fee, but that's where it stopped, right? Remember?) How does that sit? Okay, got that out of the way, I can see that thought drifting from your mind. So...

If you are an old-timer with this blog, you will remember from last year Sweet Brinley's Grand Stand. If you are new, here is a rundown. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. One day, long, long ago (way back in Cancer Land, 2009), I was rocking my chemo-sick child during the month of September. I had an awakening that I will never forget. You can read about it here. We have been determined to fight back and raise awareness from that moment on. We had our first Alex's Lemonade Stand the next month, Sweet Brinley's stand, in honor of Brinley. Alex's Lemonade Stand is one of our very favorite organizations that raises funds for pediatric cancer research. It was started by a little girl, Alexandra Scott, a 4 year old who was fighting neuroblastoma and wanted to do something to help find a cure, so she decided to hold a lemonade stand in her front yard. By the time she passed away in 2004, at the age of 8 years old, she and her family had raised over $1 million dollars. Her parents continued the organization that bears her name, and to this day they have raised over $40 million dollars.

Last year we decided to host our first Grand Stand during September (Childhood Cancer Awareness Month), with a goal of 10,000 going towards life-saving research for pediatric cancer. We ended up with $7,312, great for our first year. This year we want to meet that goal of 10,000 and are asking for your help. Want to be involved yet? GREAT, here are the ways you can help:

• Hold an Alex's Lemonade Stand in your neighborhood under our Grand Stand. I would provide cups and lemonade, signs, posters, etc. You could hold it the day of our stand (September 17th) or the week before. It could be at a local store, in your neighborhood, whatever works for you. You would finish up by coming to the party in the afternoon where we will all meet together at the central stand location. We are trying to get at least 10 families/volunteers to participate in this and will give more details if you think you are interested. You can e-mail me at kristinltorres@gmail.com. We would love to spread our Grand Stand all over the place this year if we can, the more people recognize Alex's Lemonade Stand the better.
• Volunteer at the stand. Just give us the hours you can be there and we will give you a job. It could be anything from selling things, running the bounce house, serving lemonade, blowing up balloons, easy stuff like that.
• Make a cash donation. You can donate online at http://www.alexslemonade.org/mypage/71351. Honestly, amounts are not important. Something as simple as $5 shows you care. Our first year we had an elderly man write a check for $1. It was something none of us will ever forget. I donated $1 at the grocery store the other day for a fundraiser and guess what? They didn't spit in my face! They didn't say "is that all?" They didn't laugh, or ask me if I was poor, or tell me to keep my stinkin' dollar. They thanked me! With great big smiles!
• Donate a raffle item. Our raffle was a huge success last year, and really fun!! So we would love to make it bigger this year. If you would like to contribute something to it we would be so grateful! There will also be drawings for gift cards, so any donations to restaurants or shopping would be wonderful.
• Show up with your family. Show your kids that we are here in this world to help other people, even if it doesn't directly affect us. I'm sure they won't mind the free bounce house, carnival games, face painting, dancing, prizes, food (okay the food's not free..but the lemonade is!)
• We are also looking for a food vendor that would be able to serve food on-site and donate the proceeds. Just thought I'd throw that out there too :)

The details:

When: September 17, 2011

12pm-6pm

Where: Veteran's Memorial Park

1985 West 7800 South

West Jordan, UT 84084

Mark your calendars and we hope to see you there. Your support means the world to us. Truly.