On Monday, Madison (Maddy) Vandendungen set up her lemonade stand as usual.
“She is big in this community,” Maddy’s mother Jade Floata said. “Everybody knows her, she has her regulars – we have a dad next door, he comes over and buys from her every single time she’s out.”
But things quickly took a turn for the worse when she was robbed by two teenagers.
The family says she was taunted and accosted at her lemonade stand; drink cups were thrown at Maddy, her counter was trashed and her money was stolen.
“I was telling them to get out of here, go away but they were intimidating – they were not going away,” Floata explained.
The mother of five took her daughter inside the home and called the rest of her children in as well.
Madison was scared. She got a stomachache and vomited.
Floata said her daughter was born with 15 defects and has undergone 50 procedures. She is medically fragile.
“I had to do her daily care and I thought we might actually end up going to the hospital because I couldn’t figure out what was going on with her stomach,” Floata said. “It just ended up being she was very, very worried.”
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Floata called the police and the two boys aged 14 and 16 were caught and charged.
Saskatoon police said the younger teen was charged for carrying a knife and for breaching a court order while the 16-year-old was arrested on outstanding warrants.
“Hearing they did have weapons on them afterward makes me ill,” Floata said.
Officers later returned to her home to let Madison know they made arrests.
“She completely relaxed right after and was able to go to sleep,” Floata said.
But the bad experience hasn’t kept her down. She has been out once again selling lemonade to the community.
“She’s such a little businesswoman. She loves being out there and she loves her customers and greeting people,” Floata said.
Now, the community is gathering around Maddy and the family.
The Saskatoon Berries invited Maddy to set up her lemonade stand at Thursday night’s game.
“Jam Fam! We’re not gonna let a couple rotten berries ruin this gals summer,” the team said in a social media post. “Let’s show her how sweet we all know Saskatoon can be.”
GlassMasters is also setting up a safe space for Maddy to sell lemonade on July 31.
An online fundraiser has been set up to support Madison and her big dreams. She’s got many ideas, including having a large mobile lemonade truck some day that she can take around the city.
“She loves numbers and is always talking about how she wants to be a millionaire,” Floata said.
“All of our other kids usually ask for money, but Madison’s mind is a little different. She thinks of something and then asks permission if she can go ahead and do it.”
— with files from the Canadian Press’ Jeremy Simes