Five years ago, my husband and I were in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. As we were getting ready to go to the races, we saw a story about the horse “Afleet Alex” on the television. The news story told about the horse and also the story of Alex Scott and their connection. It went on to tell about Alex’s character, her battle with cancer and her desire to raise money for children with cancer. We were both amazed at what Alex had done with her lemonade stand and how she touched so many people. We knew that we needed to get involved with her cause.

After the weekend, we came back to our four young children and told them the story about Alex Scott. They wanted to get involved. We did a little research on the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation website and decided to hold our own lemonade stand. The kids made signs, passed out flyers in the neighborhood and invited all of their family and friends to stop by for some lemonade. It was a big success, they raised over $600. The next year, some of our family members wanted to get involved so they held stands in Illinois and Virginia as well as a few more stands locally. That night after the stands were finished, we had a celebration cookout with family and friends at our house. Each year, the number of stands and participation has grown.

This year, we are hosting our fifth annual Alex’s Lemonade Stand. At this time, we have twelve stands across Northeast Ohio and one in Georgia. There will be approximately 100 kids involved. Over the past four years, our family and friends have raised over $40,000 for pediatric cancer research.

Lemonade Stand weekend has become an event that we all look forward to each year. Not only is it a great fundraiser but it is also a time to share with friends and family. It is so amazing to see all of the kids getting involved. To us, it is about kids helping kids.

We never had the privilege of meeting Alex Scott but we were fortunate enough to meet her parents and the wonderful staff at ALSF. Through all of them, our family and friends have learned that we can make a difference in the lives of others.

-Maureen Huscroft

Visit the Huscroft's fundraising page!