(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information.)
When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, sell it and donate the profits to various causes.
That’s at least what 13-year-old Millcreek Township resident Aaron Kehl has done since the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the height of the pandemic, Kehl saw the daily news on YouTube about how the pandemic negatively affected people.
“People were losing their homes and family members and going homeless,” Kehl said. “There was even a shortage of food at the time. I thought it wasn’t fair to them and because of all of this they were on the streets.”
After giving it some thought, he asked his mother if he could help others by running a lemonade stand.
“I said we can’t do one now, but maybe when we are allowed to be around others,” Amy Kehl, Aaron Kehl’s mother, said. “He never forgot what I said. He kept asking when he could have one. I said what about May (of 2021) and maybe you could start with Our Lady of Mount Carmel Food Bank.”
From the first lemonade stand at his house in Millcreek Township, Aaron Kehl raised over $300.
Building Aaron’s Lemonade for a Cause
Raising funds for the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Food Bank was just the beginning of what the Kehl family calls “Lemonade for a Cause.”
“I bought him a cardboard lemonade stand from Oriental Trading and colored it,” Amy Kehl said. “That’s what he used until he grew too tall for it. It was so cold (when he started) his first lemonade stand in May 2021.”
Amy Kehl added that “on one of our Second Harvest tours, I commented that Aaron needed a new stand because he was too tall for his current one. I said my husband was thinking about making one. Second Harvest donated the pallets for his current stand. Aaron has a sign that his kindergarten teacher made for his lemonade stand back when it first started.”
It was that teacher who suggested the name “Aaron’s Lemonade for a Cause.”
Charities benefiting from Lemonade for a Cause
At Aaron’s Lemonade for a Cause, Aaron Kehl doesn’t have a set price but simply asks customers for a donation toward his causes.
Since the initial stand in 2021, Aaron Kehl has raised $7,295 for 17 organizations.
Those organizations include:
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel Food Bank
- Breakthrough T1D- formerly JDRF
- Erie Zoo
- Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania
- The Autism Society NWPA
- United Way of Erie County
- Because You Care
- St. Jude Children’s Network
- Neurofibromatosis North East
- Sisters of Notre Dame
- Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia
- Arbor Day Foundation
- Belle Valley Caring Closet
- Belle Valley Family Support Fund
- Kaleidoscope
- Fix’N Wag’N
- Mercy Center for Women
Jennie Hagerty, executive director of the Mercy Center for Women, said it was wonderful and inspiring to witness the support of the neighborhood and community members for Aaron Kehl’s effort.
“The lemonade stand will directly benefit the Mercy Center for Women West Sacred Heart project,” Hagerty said.
How does Kehl select the organizations his lemonade stand benefits?
“I base the selection off friends and family or if I see the needs of work,” Aaron Kehl said.
Any cause that he has chosen, he has seen a direct effect from. That could be from knowing someone like his nephew, who has autism, or from seeing the results of an organization’s cause, such as when he chose Because You Care after adopting a cat from the animal rescue.
His recent donation was for more than $1,000 to the Mercy Center for Women after reading an online opinion column about its works.
“The Mercy Center for Women was from an article which explained why Aaron wanted to do a lemonade stand in the first place,” Amy Kehl said. “To help the homeless with their basic needs to get foods, homes and medical care. He said, ‘Yeah, Mom, that is what my lemonade stands are supposed to represent.’ The fact that the Mercy Center for Women is choosing the Sacred Heart Parish as their center, that used to be our parish when we lived on that side of town.”
Lemonade stand to pick up in 2026
The Kehls say they will pick up business in 2026 when the weather warms up.
“We try to do four a year, depending on how busy we are,” Aaron Kehl said. “I feel that all the donations we have given have made an impact for all the charities. Every little bit counts no matter the cost.”
Words of advice to entrepreneurs raising money for a cause
For those looking to be like Aaron Kehl and help raise money for a cause or causes close to your heart, he has some advice.
“Don’t give up what you want to do even if you feel it might not be reachable,” Aaron Kehl said. “There might be people out there willing to help you. We as a community need to help others no matter what. We are in a time where we need to come together as one to support one another. The more people see goodness coming from others will help them realize we need to do more.”
If you are looking to work with Aaron Kehl to have a lemonade stand for your cause or looking to donate, contact his mother Amy Kehl on Facebook.
Contact Nicholas Sorensen at Nsorensen@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Lemonade for a cause: Millcreek teen raises more than $7,200 for charities
Reporting by Nicholas Sorensen, Erie Times-News / Erie Times-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
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