3-year-old girl uses lemonade stand profits to help mothers in need

Life gave three-year-old Ava Lewis lemons, so she made lemonade — and gave back to her community.

The little business owner has made enough profits at her lemonade stand to help provide baby necessities to women in need in her community of Durham, NC.

On Monday, she dropped off boxes of baby wipes and diapers to the Good Samaritan Inn, a women’s shelter operated by the local Durham Rescue Mission.

The Inn acts as a transition space for women facing challenges. They house, on average, 130 women and children every night, according to their website.

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The entrepreneurial toddler first set up her yellow-and-purple stand in front of mom Maggie’s salon, The Lather Lounge, back in April.

Once the public caught wind of the cause behind Lewis’ growing business, people began buying huge quantities of her lemonade — not just cups — and showing up after-hours for a sip of their favourite local brew.

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“I said I was going to retire at 40,” Maggie told ABC 11. “I guess Ava is going to have me retire sooner than that. People have been popping up even when we close.”

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Her stand is so popular that Maggie created its own Facebook page, Ava’s Lemonade, even including hours of operation.

According to photos shared to the Facebook page, it appears her lemonade — now made in classic citrus and strawberry flavours — is so popular that the family sends three-litre jugs of lemonade by mail.

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The mission shared a statement on their website about Lewis’ kindhearted donation, writing: “We got to meet a very special little girl today. Little Miss Ava came to the Mission to donate diapers and wipes which she bought with money she made from her lemonade business.”

Maggie said that her daughter has even garnered a new nickname.

“The lemonade baby,” Maggie told the broadcast station. “You really can’t top it unless I come out with some peaches. Peach lemonade, raspberry lemonade, different kinds.”

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meaghan.wray@globalnews.ca