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Lemonade stand to raise money for cancer
By Natalie Shelton
Not many people can say they’ve raised more than $2,500 selling lemonade.
But Denise Brewster can, and she did it with the help of her kids and lots of volunteers.
Brewster was part of a metrowide lemonade stand effort last year that raised more than $65,000 for pediatric cancer research through Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. The Liberty mom is a pediatric nurse practitioner in the emergency room at Children’s Mercy Hospital.
The foundation evolved from a young cancer patient’s front yard lemonade stand to a nationwide fundraising effort to find a cure for pediatric cancer, according to www.alexslemonade.org. Alexandra Scott, an 8-year-old who died of cancer, set up her first lemonade stand at age 4, and since then, $18 million has been raised through her foundation.
Part of that money is coming from Liberty, where Brewster is busy organizing business support and volunteers for the third year of Alex’s Lemonade Stand locally. The event will be held at Hy-Vee in Liberty from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 6 and 7.
Brewster’s participation in the event has grown ever since she became interested in helping three years ago. She was working as a nurse at Cockerell McIntosh Pediatrics in Blue Springs with Dr. Mark Mozer, whose son survived cancer after being diagnosed at age 2. She said Mozer was instrumental in bringing Alex’s Lemonade Stand to the area.
All 25 Hy-Vee stores in the Kansas City area will have an Alex’s Lemonade Stand; Brewster is once again the team leader for the Liberty location. Kohl’s department stores across the area send volunteers to several of the locations, and for every location with Kohl’s volunteers, the Kohl’s corporate office will donate $500.
This year Brewster has become the coordinator for the Kohl’s volunteers; she’ll manage the volunteers from 11 Kohl’s locations stretching from St. Joseph to Lawrence, Kan. From the 25 local Hy-Vee lemonade stands, those involved aim to raise at least $80,000.
Brewster’s children, Jared, 13, and Nikki, 9, are excited about helping again, she said.
“They love it,” she said. “Last year they stayed from the time it started until the time it finished.”
Brewster is now in the process of securing donations from businesses for children’s prizes; she’s holding a contest for kids who raise money through their own neighborhood lemonade stands who want to donate to the event. She’s also in need of volunteers to work the day of the event; kids are welcome to join their parents in volunteering.
This will be the first year all the local proceeds raised will stay in the Kansas City area, Brewster said. All money raised here will be donated to pediatric cancer researchers at KU Medical Center and Children’s Mercy Hospital.
For more information, contact Brewster at 415-9340 or dbrewster1@kc.rr.com.
Staff writer Natalie Shelton can be reached at 781-4941 or nshelton@npgco.com.
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But Denise Brewster can, and she did it with the help of her kids and lots of volunteers.
Brewster was part of a metrowide lemonade stand effort last year that raised more than $65,000 for pediatric cancer research through Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. The Liberty mom is a pediatric nurse practitioner in the emergency room at Children’s Mercy Hospital.
The foundation evolved from a young cancer patient’s front yard lemonade stand to a nationwide fundraising effort to find a cure for pediatric cancer, according to www.alexslemonade.org. Alexandra Scott, an 8-year-old who died of cancer, set up her first lemonade stand at age 4, and since then, $18 million has been raised through her foundation.
Part of that money is coming from Liberty, where Brewster is busy organizing business support and volunteers for the third year of Alex’s Lemonade Stand locally. The event will be held at Hy-Vee in Liberty from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 6 and 7.
Brewster’s participation in the event has grown ever since she became interested in helping three years ago. She was working as a nurse at Cockerell McIntosh Pediatrics in Blue Springs with Dr. Mark Mozer, whose son survived cancer after being diagnosed at age 2. She said Mozer was instrumental in bringing Alex’s Lemonade Stand to the area.
All 25 Hy-Vee stores in the Kansas City area will have an Alex’s Lemonade Stand; Brewster is once again the team leader for the Liberty location. Kohl’s department stores across the area send volunteers to several of the locations, and for every location with Kohl’s volunteers, the Kohl’s corporate office will donate $500.
This year Brewster has become the coordinator for the Kohl’s volunteers; she’ll manage the volunteers from 11 Kohl’s locations stretching from St. Joseph to Lawrence, Kan. From the 25 local Hy-Vee lemonade stands, those involved aim to raise at least $80,000.
Brewster’s children, Jared, 13, and Nikki, 9, are excited about helping again, she said.
“They love it,” she said. “Last year they stayed from the time it started until the time it finished.”
Brewster is now in the process of securing donations from businesses for children’s prizes; she’s holding a contest for kids who raise money through their own neighborhood lemonade stands who want to donate to the event. She’s also in need of volunteers to work the day of the event; kids are welcome to join their parents in volunteering.
This will be the first year all the local proceeds raised will stay in the Kansas City area, Brewster said. All money raised here will be donated to pediatric cancer researchers at KU Medical Center and Children’s Mercy Hospital.
For more information, contact Brewster at 415-9340 or dbrewster1@kc.rr.com.
Staff writer Natalie Shelton can be reached at 781-4941 or nshelton@npgco.com.