After six straight years of rapid fundraising growth, Grace Bergin, a 13 year-old Farmington resident, plans to raise $100,000 selling lemonade for charity next year.
As of this past Memorial Day, Bergin raised more than $63,000 for the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center’s Department of Hematology/Oncology.
Inspired by the title character from the book “Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand,” Bergin sells her lemonade each year on Memorial Day weekend to raise money for the hospital. Bergin’s lemonade costs $1 per cup and $10 per bottle.
Bergin received an “Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand” as a thank you gift for volunteering at a family friend’s holiday party. She then decided to bring the lemonade stand to life.
“I chose the Children’s Medical Center because I wanted all of the money I made to stay in Connecticut and go towards helping children and families,” said Bergin. “I like hearing the stories of patients who have been treated there when they come to my lemonade stand.”
Bergin donates to the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center through their Kids Helping Kids program, which supports children in the community who raise money for the hospital.
Bergin sells lemonade on her house’s front lawn as the Farmington Memorial Day parade passes by. She gives veterans, firefighters, and policemen a free drink at the end of their march.
During this year’s parade, Pam Howard, illustrator of “Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand,” and her family visited Bergin with a signed copy of the book. She also thanked Bergin for her fundraising. Howard is the aunt of Alex Scott, who inspired the story’s character.
Bergin first began selling lemonade in 2009 at age seven. She went to various local businesses for donations. Whole Foods, a major contributing company to Bergin’s stand, donated its lemonade after she filled out the grocer’s nomination form.
“It was so cute,” recalled Jeanne Bergin, Grace Bergin’s mother. “She filled it all out in pencil. Where they asked for her title she wrote ‘Leader of the Lemonade Stand.’”
Grace Bergin raised $226 selling lemonade that first year.
From there she put a hospital donations bottle in many of the town’s local businesses, including Unionville Pediatrics and Dr. Elena-Lee Ritoli’s Orthodontics. In 2011, Mark and Wendy Wilson with the Reach Foundation donated T-shirts to Bergin and her team to wear when they sold their lemonade.
Bergin’s fundraising efforts ramped up in 2010 and 2011, raising $1,331 and $2,094 respectively. Come 2012, Bergin’s charity made a huge leap raking in $9,425 and it continues to grow.
The Connecticut Children’s Medical Center created a webpage on its foundation homepage dedicated to Grace’s Lemonade Stand where people can make donations. The donations made on Bergin’s webpage go straight to the medical center and she sends thank you notes to all who contribute.
Two years ago, Bergin said she felt a sense of satisfaction when she was approached at the airport by a girl who had been a patient at the medical center and was in the clinic for Bergin’s check presentation the day before.
“A girl came up to me and asked, ‘Are you Grace from Grace’s Lemonade Stand?’” said Bergin.
Marci Lombardo, development coordinator at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center Foundation, said Bergin has an amazing energy and dedication to the hospital.
“Grace has been such a role model to us, and we are very grateful for the support of the whole Bergin family,” said Lombardo.
With the help of her new webpage and many family friends, Bergin’s organization started receiving bigger donations. Last year, Bergin raised $14,586 selling lemonade.
“I exceeded my goal last year, so this year I wanted to make my goal bigger,” said Bergin.
For 2014, Bergin set a fundraising goal of $30,000, but already raised more $36,000.
Bergin often receives thank you notes included with checks people send in the mail. One of those notes reads, “What a difference you make in the world. Thank you for being so inspiring in your fundraising efforts. I am happy to support you. Wishing you every success.”
