Last Saturday, I had the privilege of supporting and coordinating a group of young children, ages 8-12 years old, who came together to sell lemonade and cookies to our community in hopes to raise money for the Manteca Animal Shelter.
It all started with a 4th grader from Denair Elementary Charter Academy, Brynna Butler, who was inspired by a story she read in school about kids coming together to raise money for a community library. She came to me and wanted to do something similar, but wanted the money to help animals.

Brynna and I made 175 chocolate chip cookies and her brother Degan Butler, a 7th grader at Denair Middle School, made 4 gallons of lemonade. On Saturday, Oct. 10, Brynna, Degan, myself and Molly Keegan, a 2nd grader at Neil Hafley Elementary School, spent four hours on Mission Ridge Drive holding up signs and selling our goodies and made a whopping $318.50.
Many residents stopped by and stated how excited they were to see this because they haven’t seen a lemonade stand in years. They continued by telling the children how proud they were of our youth coming together, voluntarily, to support such a great cause.
I wanted to also thank the Manteca community for being so supportive and kind, especially during such a challenging and trying time. It was so wonderful to see people stop and smile at one another and send each other positivity.
We truly have the best and most supportive community. We appreciate everyone who contributed towards this event. I will be reaching out to the Manteca animal shelter and seeing how they receive donations, as this is our first time doing a community fundraiser.