Columbia lemonade stand proceeds headed to Puerto Rico

Every little bit helps the people of storm-torn Puerto Rico.

Two Columbia elementary school students at the St. Joseph Catholic School on Devine Street are pitching in to help people whose lives were torn apart by Hurricane Maria.

First-grader, Anna Fuller, 6, was so worried by stories of washed out roads and no electricity that she wanted to do something for the people of the U.S. territory.

She and her older sister, fourth-grader Abby, 9, talked about what they could do, said their mother, Kim Fuller. They decided they would do what kids everywhere do to raise money – set up a lemonade stand.

For two days this past weekend, people walking and driving by the corner of Chimey Hill and Wood Ride in the Hampton Crest neighborhood could buy three types of lemonade for 50 cents a cup.

A lot of people did.

“We posted a picture of the lemonade stand on our neighborhood Facebook page,” Fuller said. Neighbors and others stopped by, buying lemonade, many saying, “Keep the change girls, it’s going to a good cause,” she said.

“The first day they raised $38, and were amazed,” the mother said. By the end of Sunday, the girls had raised $145.

The money will be going to relatives of a Richland County deputy who live in Puerto Rico, Fuller said.

The girls turned the cash over to their school on Monday.

They plan to have the lemonade stand up and running again this weekend, Fuller said.

This story was originally published October 4, 2017 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Columbia lemonade stand proceeds headed to Puerto Rico."