Lemonade stand raises hundreds of dollars for wildfire evacuees

Jul 26, 2017 | 5:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — Amid the devastation and distress, the wildfires in B.C. have shone a light on the kindness and generosity of Kamloops residents.

A brother and sister are helping in their own way, by starting up a lemonade stand with proceeds going to the Canadian Red Cross.

It’s another day of business for the Waterman siblings.

“Our goal is to get about $500-hundred and we’re gonna try to do as much as we can,” said Emily Waterman.

For two days, 13-year-old James and 11-year-old Emily Waterman have been running a lemonade stand at the bottom of their driveway on Greenstone Drive in Upper Sahali.

Proceeds from every cup of lemonade is going to the Canadian Red Cross to help wildfire evacuees.

“We were origianlly just going to do it for ourselves but then on the news all the wildfire people being evacuated, we felt the need to help,” said James Waterman.

“Imagine being evacuated from your home. Some people weren’t even on alert, that would be pretty scary,” said Emily Waterman. “It’s just good to help.”

In just two days, the brother and sister have raised more than $200 to go towards supplying food, water, and other supplies to the approximetly 200-thousand evacuees who remain out of their homes.

“We’ve had all people of all ages buying lemonade,” said James Waterman. “We took shifts to go stand at the top of the road, waving signs that said ‘this way for lemonade!”

“One woman came up and just handed us a twenty dollar bill, she didn’t even buy lemonade,” said Emily Waterman. “That was pretty nice.”

What’s also nice is this isn’t the only effort these kids are undergoing doing to help those in need.

“They were down at the Sandman Centre a few times, walking evacuees dogs,” said their Dad Dan Waterman. “Any chance they get to help out, they’re always very keen.”

Thanks to the generosity of the Watermans and thousands of others throughout Kamloops and B.C., the Canadian Red Cross has raised more than $8.5 million to go towards helping evacuees.

The two hope the non-profit organization will turn around and help their fundraising efforts as well.

“We’re hoping they’re going to match what we raise,” said James Waterman. “Our goal is $500 but if we reach out then we’ll try for $1,000.

The two entrepreneurs helping make a sour situation a little bit sweeter for those in need.