For three years, Chatham’s Raelyn Drew has been running a lemonade stand to raise money for the Salvation Army Food Bank and her total has reached hundreds of dollars.
On Aug. 17, Raelyn and her mom Jen took the lemonade stand to Bike Fest, a fundraiser at Duke’s Harley Davidson for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Chatham-Kent. Selling cups of pretty good lemonade for $10 a glass, Raelyn has quickly racked up money to help the hungry and homeless in the community.
Jen said Raelyn got the idea for the stand three years ago when she talked to her mom about wanting to give the family’s food and home to people that didn’t have any.
“I told her we couldn’t really do that or we would have nothing, but we could figure out a way to help.” Jen explained. “Then she came up with the idea of a lemonade stand for donations of money and food. It was all her; we just supported her.”
At their home in Chatham, Jen said local police officers and firefighters have been frequent visitors, buying the lemonade and helping spread the word about Raelyn raising money for the hungry and homeless.
“We’ve had so many police and fire trucks drive by our house. They’ve been incredibly supportive,” she added.
After having a stand at Bike Fest last year, the Chatham-Kent’s HOGs motorcycle group saw what Raelyn was doing and said she should be acknowledged for her work to help the homeless, and they made her an honourary member of the group.
Raelyn was given a denim vest from HOG members at their annual meeting in July to honour her work for the Salvation Army.
