By Seth Daniel
Abigail and Emery DeRoeve had been after their parents all summer to have a lemonade stand up at the Monument.
The time just had never been right, until last week when the family looked at the devastating pictures of hurricane and rain damage done to homes in Houston.
With great encouragement, the DeRoeve girls and two friends, Pilar and Isabel Gali, finally had permission for their stand, and a mission to help other children in Houston just like themselves. They set up last Weds, Aug. 30, at locations around the Monument, and had quite a successful day.
“We did it because we saw what happened in Houston and thought, ‘What if there was a storm here and we had nothing,’” said Abigail, 8, who attends the Eliot School in the North End. “There was a big storm in Houston and they ended up having nothing left. We did it because we really wanted to do a lemonade stand all summer, and last week, after we saw the storm, my dad said we should do the stand for Houston. So, that’s what we did.”
Said Emery, 6, who also attends the Eliot School, “We made a lot of money in three hours for Houston, Texas. We made $500. We went to BJ’s and got a lot of stuff.”
Joe and Jessica DeRoeve said they were very proud that their daughters were so enthusiastic to use their idea to help others, and to see what it was like to help from beginning to end.
“It was exciting for the girls to see what they could do to help, and to carry it out from start to finish,” said Jessica. “On Thursday, they even went over to City Hall to deliver what they bought. It really was a great experience for them and a way they could help other kids.”
The girls brought $475 to BJ’s and the store, upon learning about what they were doing, donated a $25 gift card to them – making it an even $500.
Abigail said they bought soap, kids shampoo, cereal, toothbrushes, toothpaste, pasta and lots of diapers in all sizes.
“I feel happy we were able to do this,” she said. “We didn’t buy stuff for the adults. We bought stuff for the kids.”
If anyone didn’t get a chance to contribute to the stand the first time around, this Saturday, Sept. 9, there will be another chance at the Charlestown High School track.
Kids and parents will set up a lemonades stand, a bake sale and coffee sale to benefit Houston from 8-10 a.m.