No sour taste: Lemonade stand raises funds
The days of good old-fashioned lemonade stands seem to be a thing of the past, but for one small group of mothers they decided to use the traditional concept to launch a much bigger idea.
As part of a national campaign that helps to raise funds for hungry children, communities all over the United States participate in the Great American Bake Sale each day throughout the year.
"We wanted to give our young ones the opportunity to perform their first community service project," said Courtney Vlugt, community organizer and mom. "This is for a great cause and shows our children what it means to give back."
According to the Great American Bake Sale Web site, more than 1.3 million people have participated in these events since 2003, raising nearly $5 million to make sure no child in America grows up hungry.
The Plumas Lake group held its bake sale across the street from Rio del Oro school land offered up cold lemonade and a variety of baked goods to hungry parents and kids leaving school for the day. The result: more than $130 made in a three-hour period.
How far can those funds go? Fifty dollars can help provide 48 preschool children lunch for a day, while $100 can help provide 25 bags of age-appropriate, nutritious foods for toddlers whose parents rely on food banks.
And the Plumas Lake moms who participated would like nothing more than to be able to continue these types of outreach events in the future - both as a way of giving back to society and in order to be able to teach the next generation the importance of helping others.
"The event went well and I'd like to see the kids continue to do more community service events in the future," said Vlugt. "As they get older they will be able to become more involved in the details including advertising, picking the charity and seeing first-hand how their actions positively impact others."
People interested in helping this cause or would like to possibly host their own Great American Bake Sale can visit www.strength.org.
Plumas Lake Life correspondent Michele Perrault can be reached at 483-3664 or e-mail her at mperrault@plumaslakelife.com
