9-year-old’s lemonade stand raises $3,400 for fire-ravaged Lytton

CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) — When nine-year-old Emily Loewen saw that the Village of Lytton had been destroyed by a wildfire, she decided to help by setting up a lemonade stand in front of her Chilliwack home. She’s raised more than $3,400 and presented the proceeds to a special visitor Tuesday.

Asked what inspired her to raise money to help people she’s never met, her answer is simple. “The fire,” she says. “Lytton was on fire so they needed money to build stuff.”

Her father Darcy explains that when they saw the devastation of the Fraser Canyon village on TV his daughter asked if there was anything she could do.

“She just wanted to help people that she saw on the news that were in need of help. She felt really bad that they lost everything they had. She’s got a big heart,” he says.

“It was pretty sweet. I told her, ‘You can help if you want to. ‘ She asked me how. I said ‘Well, you could fundraise.”

The original plan was to set up a stand for a week, selling a cup of lemonade for $2. But then it took off. Local firefighters visited and posted on their social media one day. On another, a hundred people from a motorcycle club stopped by and bought all the lemonade Emily had. Encouraged by her parents and often joined by her seven-year-old stepsister Savannah Tickle, and best friend and neighbour 12-year-old Gracie McKinnon — it became a true community effort.

“It was Emily’s idea, but she had help doing it, it wasn’t all just her,” Darcy says.

Emily says all of her customers had the same reaction when they visited.

“They were happy.”

She says sitting outside selling lemonade during a heatwave was hard work, but worth it.

“I always wanted to drink the lemonade if it was hot on days. I sometimes drank it,” she explains.

“I’m happy.”

After nearly a month of setting up shop and doling out cool drinks for a good cause, Darcy started to look into how to get the money raised to the people who needed it.

“She was like, ‘I just want to give to the town.’ So I said, ‘Let me see what I can figure out.'”

He decided just to go straight to Mayor Jan Polderman, figuring the village’s leader would know the best place to send the cheque. So, he reached out online.

“He ended up calling me to say he wanted to come down and have a glass of lemonade. I was like, ‘Holy smokes. Okay, cool.'”

When Polderman came to Chilliwack Tuesday, he told Emily how he plans to put her donation to use.

“He said he was very proud of me, and he said he was gonna use it on playgrounds, schools, and at libraries.”

And Polderman isn’t the only one impressed by Emily’s kindness and initiative.

“Everybodys saying how she’s an awesome kid, and has such a big heart. It actually brings tears to my eyes, to be honest. I couldn’t be more proud.”