the f-word paradox

For the past 3 years, Isabelle (7) and her friend Finlay (soon to be 7) and of course their helpers  (Mai, Bernie & I) have been hosting a Lemonade stand for CHEO (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario) which is located in our hometown of Ottawa, Canada.

“We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone” ….Dr Loretta Scott

Firstly, as many parents, we wanted to teach our girls about giving back & how

to do something for others. We are blessed that our girls are healthy but we know that this is not the case for many families.  My nephew Thomas Paul Quinet who was born with Cystic Fibrosis was in CHEO countless times during his short 14 years here with us. Thomas and his parents Marc & Suzanne (Camu) received great care and formed deep bonds with the staff and facility. We are truly fortunate to have such a great Children’s Hospital in our community. Therefore donating our lemonade stand proceeds to  CHEO was an easy decision.

Secondly, as realtors like to say “Location Location Location” and that is what we have to ensure a good, actually great turnout for our lemonade stand. The Ottawa Tulip Festival draws thousands of visitors each year to Commissioners park near Dows Lake and we are located basically right in the hub of it all. The remainder is pretty simple, we check the weather forecast then a pick a day that ensures the masses will come out and then we organize ourselves accordingly in hopes of surpassing the previous year’s donations. This past Saturday we hosted our 3rd annual Lemonade Stand. The stand is set up for 2-3hours and we ask for donations to support our cause. At the end we are out of energy and lemonade; however, we have a donation bucket full of coins and bills.  In the previous years we hovered around  $900.00 so this year our goal was to break $1000.00. We were thrilled with not only the turnout  but the genuine appreciation from our donors towards our efforts. We met “CHEO” babies, kids that were in treatment, those who had finished and heard lots of heartwarming stories…..and this year we raised ……

This year Finlay and Isabelle’s lemonade stand raised $2115.00

Cheers Thomas….we think of you often & miss you!