Pipestone Flyer
This isn’t the first time 8 year old Aly McCallum has set up a lemonade stand on Centennial Drive to raise money. Only this time the purpose was different. Aly was devastated when she heard the news stories of the flooding in Southern Alberta and wanted to make a difference. She decided she wanted to do what she knew best; set up a lemonade stand along her street, sell lemonade and donate all the proceeds to the Red Cross to help the flood victims in Southern Alberta.
The problem was, Aly’s track record with lemonade stands was not that great. As her Mom, Tammy, describes, “Aly had Lemonade stands in the past and knew she could make a little money so that's how she came up with idea. I’m sure she had a goal of $10.00. She had never made more than that sitting out all morning. Still, when we were discussing what we could do to help all these people, the ‘lemonade stand’ idea would not go away.”
Aly had seen her Mom in action before. She was a loyal supporter of past undertakings and Aly just knew that she would come through this time. With her Mom’s help, just think what $20, $30 or maybe even $50 could do towards helping these people.
“ I sent out mass texts and Facebook updates to friends and family”, explains Tammy. “The word spread quickly. Pioneer Chrysler heard about Aly's mission through a friend and said they would match Wednesday’s (June 26, 2013) lemonade stand proceeds. She raised $630.81 on Wednesday and with the matching funds from Pioneer Chrysler, she had raised an astounding $1261.62.”
The business escalated so rapidly that Aly had to recruit her grandma and Dad to mix up the pitchers. How many? “She sold a lot of lemonade! She delegated her Dad and Grandma to mix up pitchers while she kept on selling. Didn't keep track...too busy. Mady Elliot, her friend, also came by to help. A lot of kids wanted to help out, it was amazing!”
“She was so thrilled she talked me into another lemonade stand on Thursday. When Aly decides to do something there is no stopping her. She may only be 8 years old but she has more compassion than most people will know in a lifetime.” On the second evening Aly and her crew raised an additional $541.04 for a grand total of $1802.66.
Tammy is proud. “I call her our ‘Earth Angel’. She was very happy that with all the love and support she received, she will now be able to give a little something to those in need. She was mentioned at her school by Mrs. Zablocki as a Global Citizen because of her fund raising efforts for Red Cross. She was very thrilled about that”
Barry’s notes: As I was leaving the busy lemonade stand on Centennial Drive, Aly left her prolific business for a few moments to come to my truck to say good bye and personally thank me for covering her lemonade fundraising mission. Just shows why Tammy can say, “I'm always proud of my children. They are both very inspiring people!”