Alex’s Lemonade Stand
1996 – 2004
So little space between those dates. Too few years to live a life. But that was all Alexandra Scott had to work with.
See how she used them.
At age nine months Alex, as she was known, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a form of childhood cancer.
At age one, defying her doctors’ best judgment, Alex learned to walk first with leg braces, and then without.
She improved for a time, but then relapsed. We know cancer can do that.
While hospitalized for stem cell treatment, Alex had a notion. “When I get out, I want to have a lemonade stand” to raise money so doctors could “help other kids the way they helped me.”
At age four, Alex and her brother did have a lemonade stand ,and that summer raised an astonishing $2,000.
Word spread about this determined little girl and her selfless quest. Others built stands and sold lemonade in her name.
When Alex passed away at age eight the movement she started had raised $1 million dollars.
The following year her parents formed the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF).
During September, which is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, they are hosting Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Million Mile, a virtual event, to raise money to battle childhood cancer.
Here’s how it works. Folks like us walk, run, bike or saunter, wherever we live, and we keep track of the mileage. Get friends, colleagues and bar buddies to sponsor your efforts. By month’s end hopefully a million miles will have been logged and lots of money raised for ALSF.
Find all of the details about Million Mile at http://sportingacause.com/event/alexs-lemonade-s…ion-million-mile/
And if , in your travels, you happen upon a lemonade stand in the coming weeks, stop and buy a cup- whether you like lemonade or not.
Bob Frink
I only saw Bob Frink once, and from that moment wished that I had known him longer. I met him at the Canaan Country Club last August where he was hosting the 3rd Annual Ice Bucket Open Golf Tournament to raise money for the ALS Association, Connecticut Chapter.
Bob sat in a motorized wheelchair. He could no longer speak, but he could smile, and I think smiling is about the bravest thing you can do when you have ALS.
ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or, more commonly, Lou Gehrig’s disease. It is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder which means it robs the sufferer of muscular control starting with mobility and manual dexterity and eventually speech and the ability to breath. There is no cure, and it is always fatal. It stole those things from Bob, but it couldn’t rob his spirit, or the spirit of his wife Jeanine and their family. Much is asked of a family when a member has ALS.
Bob had served as greens keeper at CCC for 27 years, so a golf tournament at the Club was a natural for a fundraiser. Well known and well loved, Bob’s friends organized the Open to raise money to help him out, but Bob decided the proceeds would go to ALS Association CT, the organization that has helped him and his family.
Bob passed away in February, but the Ice Bucket Challenge continues. It will be held this Saturday, August 10th, for the fourth year, at the Canaan Country Club in memory of Bob Frink.
The tournament has raised over $70,000 for ALS research over its three year run.
