An eight-year-old Michigan girl has helped fundraise enough money for her upcoming classmates to receive a practical gift they can use throughout the school year by opening up a lemonade stand.
Cluster Elementary School’s third-grade teacher, John Vergowven, recently posted on Facebook that his upcoming students for the school year can receive a free book through the Scholastic Book club program, which offers students a book each month for $1.
Vergowven generally raises funds for the books with the help of family and friends each year but is receiving extra help this year from one of his students.
Addison “Addie” St. Andre and her mother saw her teacher’s Facebook post and decided they wanted to help her teacher raise the money for all 30 of her fellow classmates.
“Mr. Vergowven posted about it. I said, ‘We should donate to this,'” Addie’s mother, Courtney Frost, told the Monroe News.
Needing to raise $270 for all her classmates to have one book each month throughout the school year, Addie decided to start a lemonade stand after being inspired by the nearby Monroe County Fair.
She intends to give all proceeds to her teacher, with any additional funds raised going to an in-school library that Vergowven is trying to start.
For the past two Fridays, Addie set up shop on 671 Cooper St. from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., charging customers $3 for a regular lemonade and $5 for a large one, with the option of adding edible glitter for $1 more, calling it the “Galaxy” lemonade.
“She does pretty much everything else herself,” said Addie’s mother, Courtney Frost, whose only job is to cut the lemons.
On the first Friday in August, Addie raised $59, the Monroe News noted.
However, on her second Friday out, Addie smashed the previous week’s total, raising $393 — more than enough to help her teacher buy books for all her classmates while also contributing additional funds to build an in-class library, according to Monroe County Reporters in a Facebook update.
“Simply amazing what started as an idea and she will get to watch her classmates benefit and enjoyment right in front of her eyes,” Monroe County Reporters wrote in their update.
Vergowven, who also had Addie as a student in one of his classes last year, spoke highly of Addie’s generosity.
“Addie has been a wonderful student in my class,” Vergowven told the Monroe News. “She has always been very kind and helpful with her classmates. She has such a big heart.”
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.