“I know! Let’s have a lemonade stand!”

Remember that summer day when you desperately needed money (for a hula hoop or roller skates) and you said to your friend, “I know! Let’s have a lemonade stand!” You made a sign reading, “Lemonade—10 cents.” You sold cookies too…

Milan and Carolyn Schmidt— members of Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church—sat on their porch on Croftville Road, watching people and dogs walking past, and said the same thing—“I know! Let’s have a lemonade stand!” This time, though, the lemonade stand is not for skates or hula hoops, but for the betterment of our Cook County community.

On Saturday, July 5, from 2-7 p.m. at 1633 Croftville Road, folks from Spirit of the Wilderness will be serving lemonade and home-made treats (for humans and dogs) to raise money for two great causes.

One is the Good Samaritan Fund (developed by Spirit of the Wilderness) which functions as a discretionary fund administered by social workers of Cook County Health and Human Services. The fund meets special needs—replacing balding tires so kids can be taken safely to the bus stop or replacing an expired chain saw for a family who heats with wood. These needs (that would otherwise fall through the cracks) are met by the fund and handed out by those who can see best how to meet them.

The other half of the lemonade stand earnings will go to support a Boy’s Leadership Group, for fifth and sixth grade boys, focusing on leadership, self-esteem, bullying, and men in the media. Sponsored by the Violence Prevention Center, our contribution would help fund supplies and a facilitator for the eight-week program at ISD 166.

See you at the Lemonade Stand! (If you can’t make it, you could send a check to SOTW, Box 1115, Grand Marais, with the memo “Lemonade Stand” to support these two great ways to better our community.)