Abel Mena, 6, of Miami Lakes told his mom Mimi Mena that a goal on his summer bucket list was to have a lemonade stand.
“Just coincidentally I was scrolling through Facebook, and I follow St. Jude [Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.] and one of their posts came up that they were doing a July lemonade stand challenge for kids,” Mena said.
She registered Abel. He charged $2 per cup, or whatever customers wanted to donate, at his stand in a park near their home. Abel’s goal was to raise $250 for the cause.
His proud mom said, “He raised about $450.”
Abel raised money for research into childhood cancers and other illnesses. He served a lot of customers, including local firefighters and police officers from Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Station 64 and Miami-Dade County Police officers from the Miami Lakes force. From left, Firefighter Spencer Saltzberg; Officer Julie Madrigal; Officer Robert De Leon; Capt. Kelly Hall; Abel; Firefighter Laurie Betts; Officer Monique Belony; Firefighter Keith O’Prey and Officer Alain Ramirez.