Lemonade stand in Mesa raising money for those affected by cancer

A group of Mesa kids is selling lemonade to raise money for local cancer patients, and it's sparked a larger effort called the "Lemonade Challenge."

"Sometimes we just come out here and put a stand up and then make lemonade and sell it," said Lila Stamm.

The effort started during spring break. A couple of kids were picking lemons off a bursting lemon tree in Emily Rosenhan’s backyard when the kids decided they wanted to do something with it.

"They went over to go play at this corner house right here, and then, one of the kids decided 'let's do a lemonade stand,' and then another kid said, 'let's donate it to orphans and the hospital,'" said Rosenhan, who is a mother of three.

The kids organized everything and even made their own signs to get people's attention. That day, they raised $20 dollars. Of that $20, half of it went to a foster home, and the other half went to Banner MD Anderson.

"I was like alright, my kids went to do this great thing to raise some money for charity, so I'm going to make sure they get to see this through," said Rosenhan.

Rosenhan reached out to Banner MD Anderson and the kids were invited to meet the CEO. It was there when the "Lemonade Challenge" was created to encourage people to donate to the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Patient Assistance Fund.

"It goes directly to the patients to help with transportation costs and childcare costs, so that way, the patients are able to get their treatments at the cancer center," said Rosenhan.

Rosenhan says the whole experience is a great learning lesson for the kids.

"They get to see that them pulling together the resources and them coming together in doing this is going to help benefit people, and people are going to see their example and get to donate to their lemonade stand," said Rosenhan.

Banner Heath Lemonade Challenge

Tune in to FOX 10 Phoenix for the latest news

For the latest local news, download the FOX 10 News app.

Sign up for FOX 10 email alerts, newsletters