Brevard kids' lemonade stand raises $1,000 for neighbor who lost home

Charli and Jackson Ward help Beatrice Gillespie

Image courtesy Florida Today.

SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. – It's like the old saying goes: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

The patrons of this past weekend's most popular beverage stop might be too young to know the phrase, but that's exactly what they did for a woman whose home caught fire this Fourth of July.

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Charli and Jackson Ward, a first-grader and fifth-grader at Holland Elementary, held an old-fashioned lemonade stand on Saturday to collect donations for their Satellite Beach neighbor, Beatrice Gillespie, a woman they'd never met, News 6 partner Florida Today reported.

"We wanted to give her the money so she could buy new clothes and a house," Jackson said.

They opened up shop at 8:30 a.m. sharp and divided the duties: Charli would take the orders, and Jackson would dole out the drinks and handle the money. The night before, their dad, Gary Ward, built and painted them a stand, and the kids practiced what to say.

The sweltering heat and some strategic Facebook posts drew about a hundred customers — firefighters who helped battle the blaze, police, neighbors, local business owners, out-of-towners and even the city manager.

"It looks like everyone comes together when they have to," said Satellite Beach City Manager Courtney Barker, sipping on an ice-cold cup of lemonade. The city may also start its own fundraiser, she added, and has already gotten a lot of calls about making donations to help Gillespie.

Four hours and five pitchers of pink and yellow lemonade later, Charli and Jackson's milk jug of cash was full and it was time to count the money. Maybe they'd collected $100, they guessed.

Try $1,000.

Donations from lemonade lovers brought in $761.75, and Charli and Jackson's parent's Satellite Beach marketing agency Ebove & Beyond chipped in the rest for an even thousand.

"The kids were shocked. They said $1,000 would build a house and give her everything," their mom, Jennifer Ward, said. "I wish."

The next day, the Wards surprised Gillespie at church with the plastic jug full of money.

Gillespie didn't return a phone call from FLORIDA TODAY, but a report from the Satellite Beach Fire Department details the night her home on Caribbean Drive — about 2 miles from the Wards house — was destroyed.

She was sitting in her bedroom watching TV when she her heard a bang on the door around 9 p.m., Gillespie told investigators. Her neighbors helped her get out of the house, as a "glow" seeped through the cracks of the garage door.

Neighbors tried to put out the flames with a hose and a fire extinguisher, but soon the whole house was engulfed. The total damage came to about $330,000, according to the report. 

The State Fire Marshal has yet to find out the cause, but neighbors speculated fireworks were to blame. According to the report, neighbors saw a rogue firework misfire and strike Gillespie's garage door. However, on Monday, a spokesperson for the Fire Marshal said "there are no indications that fireworks are related to the cause."

 


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