(Photos courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)

Operation LemonAID
Making Disciples for Christ One Cup of Lemonade at a Time

By Anna and Tracy Musselwhite

It all started in a closet. My sister and I had a club in a walk-in closet called the Awesome Club. We would have short meetings in there with stuffed animals and dolls. One day we decided we wanted to do something to help others.

At our church, we packed shoeboxes for a charity called Operation Christmas Child. Operation Christmas Child is a charity where people pack shoeboxes filled with school supplies, soap, toothbrushes, toys, and so much more. They send them to a drop-off area like our church, Hibben United Methodist. Then, the boxes are sent to children around the world who don’t receive Christmas presents. Children learn about God through it, and know that they are truly loved.

We figured out that the shipping costs of the shoeboxes are pretty expensive so we decided that we would have a lemonade stand to raise money for the shipping costs. We always loved having a lemonade stand, so we were doing something we love, while helping other kids

With the help of our parents and neighborhood friends, we had our first lemonade stand in our driveway and raised $100 dollars. We decided that we should do it again. The next year, we raised $400.  We moved the stand to our church the next year and raised $1,200. Last year we raised over $2,000!

This year, we are trying to get kids across the country to have lemonade stands. We want to have at least one Operation LemonAID stand in all 50 states of America. Our overall goal is to raise $50,000 by November 2018.  So our slogan is 50 Cents – 50 States – $50K.

Some kids think that they are too young to make a difference, but when we started this I was 6 and my sister, Anna, was 10. Now I am 10, and Anna is 14. We are trying to get other boys and girls our age to spread news about God and have Operation LemonAID stands at their churches too. That way, we will be spreading the love of God to children around the world, and you will get a nice refreshing glass of lemonade out of it.

If having a lemonade stand isn’t your thing, we encourage young people to pick something that they like or are good at, and figure out how that gift can help someone else. It can even be something as simple as seeing someone with a need, and helping by making their life easier.

We love Operation LemonAID so much! If you are able to have an Operation LemonAID stand at your house or your church, you can join visit ourteamwebpage for tips and instructions on how to do one yourself. We encourage you to support Operation Christmas Child, and tell your friends! For more information about Operation Christmas Child, visit SamaritansPurse.org/OCC.

If you don’t have time to host an Operation LemonAID stand, you can ask your parents or grandparents to donate money to this great cause. Together, we can spread the word of Christ one cup of lemonAID and one shoebox gift at a time.