Making money out of lemons

BITTERSWEET-Local children sell good old-fashioned lemonade with the help of the Oak Park Gardeners just outside the community garden gates to raise funds for pediatric cancer. Proceeds were donated to the Alex's Lemonade Stand Fund, named after a child whose fundraising through a roadside lemonade stand had a ripple effect, inspiring other lemonade stands that cumulatively earned $1 million to fight the disease that ultimately took Alex's life. Never underestimate the power of a refreshing cup of lemonade on a warm day, especially if purchased from a child's roadside stand. More than $400 was raised recently at an Oak Park lemonade stand on the corner of Kanan Road and Sunnycrest Drive.

The stand was run by the Oak Park Gardeners just outside the community garden's gates. Proceeds were donated to the Alex's Lemonade Stand Fund to help find new treatments and a cure for pediatric cancers.

The lemonade stand was open Oct. 28 in conjunction with the Oak Park Gardeners' annual pumpkin patch fundraiser. Each fall, the public is invited to purchase pumpkins to help support the nonprofit gardens.

The idea for the lemonade stand came from Roseanne Parino of Agoura Hills, the president of Oak Park Gardeners. She had seen a television program about the Alex's Lemonade Stand project and fund. The project originated with Alexandra Scott, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer, shortly after her first birthday in 1997.

At 4 years old, still battling the disease, Alex set up a lemonade stand in front of her Pennsylvania home to raise money to help her doctors find a cure. That first stand raised $2,000.

Alex continued to sell lemonade, and was joined by others around the world who were moved by her story. When Alex died in 2004, at the age of 8, her lemonade stands had raised over $1 million.

In Alex's memory, and in her name, lemonade sales have continued, earning millions of dollars for childhood cancer research.

"Don't ever tell me one person can't make a difference," Parino said.

Parino's granddaughter Tyler Barnholtz of Thousand Oaks manned the Oak Park lemonade stand, along with friends Kristin Caldwell, 8, Julia Dewing, 8, and Ashlynn Rivas, of Thousand Oaks; Chance Malanga, 7, of Agoura Hills; and Jacob Adivi, 6, of Oak Park.

"We had a generous crowd," Parino said. "We will do this every year."

For more information about Oak Park Gardeners, call Parino at (818) 735-9957. For details on the Alex's Lemonade Stand Fund, visit www.alexslemonade.org.