Kids start lemonade stand to help neighbor whose house burned down

SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - When life gave a local senior citizen a pile of lemons, some kids across town thought a little lemonade might help. 

Six and a half-year-old Charli Ward and nine-year-old Jackson Ward were already planning a lemonade stand, when they heard that Beatrice Gillespie’s house was destroyed by a fire on the Fourth of July.

“We found out that it burned down and so we thought well, if we’re going to get money we should give it to her,” Jackson said.

Gary Ward, the kids’ dad, had just built the lemonade stand.

Jennifer Ward, the kids’ mom, helped out in the kitchen.

And Charli and Jackson split the duties outside.  

“My job was to ask the customers if they wanted pink or yellow [lemonade] and Jackson’s job was to serve it,” Charli said. 

Some strategically placed social media drew a crowd on Saturday morning. 

“There was really probably more people that we didn’t know that came by which was really the pretty sweet part of it,” Jennifer Ward said. 

All the lemonade helped rake in more than $1,000.

“I was like, ‘You guys raised $1,000!’ and they were like, ‘She can buy a house and everything.’ I was like, ‘Well, close, but not quite’,” Jennifer Ward said. 

The family got to meet “Miss Bea” and hand her the money the next day. 

“It was a little bit astonishing because I didn’t know how much that meant to her,” Jackson said.