6-year-old's Lemonade Stand Helps Raise $13K for Migrant Kids
Austin Cofrin Gaggero might only be 6-years-old, but he already made a move to help the immigrant children that were forcefully separated from their parents at the US borders.
In an interview with Time, Austin's mother Shannon Cofrin Gaggero talked about how his idea about putting up a lemonade stand to help the immigrant children was able to raise $13,000.
The Atlanta native shared that she and her children, including her 3-year-old daughter Reese, were talking about how they can help the poor kids who were detained in facilities at the border. That is when Austin raised his idea of putting up a lemonade stand.
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Since the weather in Atlanta is extremely hot, the Gaggeros thought that the juice stand would be a great idea.
The mother of two thought of asking help from their family, friends, and neighbors in the Atlanta suburb Virginia Highland, and that is why she uploaded a short Facebook post to invite them to the lemonade stand fundraiser in front of her home on Sunday, June 24. Surprisingly, a lot of people responded to her invitation.
Her friends who were living in other parts of the countries also decided to open their own local lemonade stands, particularly in Sherman Oaks, California; Madison, Wisconsin; as well as Decatur, Georgia. Another opened a lemonade stand in East Cobb in Saturday, June 30.
Gaggero reported the result of their fundraising event in the Striving Parent blog.
"On Sunday, about 20 families gathered in our front lawn to run the lemonade stand and bake sale, to hold up signs and stage a mini-protest and to simply but powerfully be in community with each other in support of Families Belong Together," she stated. "I received a pro-tip to accept donations instead of creating a price menu for the lemonade and treats and I think this encouraged folks to be generous," she added.
In their home-front lemonade store, the Gaggeros managed to raise a total of $1,100. On the other hand, the Facebook fundraising reached the amount of $12,000. This gave them a total of $13,000 that they will donate to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) in Texas.
