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Charlie’s Lemonade Stand

Being sick is never fun, but it’s especially not fun on the day your class is making lemonade. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to Webb Elementary first grader Charlie Vassar.

Life gave him lemons, but luckily with his mom by his side, she made him lemonade at home. Charlie enjoyed that lemonade so much that he had the bright idea to create his own lemonade stand over spring break and donate his earnings to help the less fortunate.

Charlie’s teacher, Beatrice Davis, was thrilled with his initiative, especially since she teaches students to earn, save, spend and donate. ��

In fact, in 2014, Davis developed an initiative from a lesson plan that consisted of those four words. She got the idea that students could earn money at home by doing chores, save the money, then bring it to school to spend on various items to donate.

The recipient of the donations is the , and over a nine-year relationship, Davis and her students have donated more than $22,000. So, when Charlie earned $157 from his lemonade stand, Davis knew exactly who to donate to.

“Charlie is a model student,” said Davis. “He follows all the rules and expectations and is a cool and bright young man.”

Arlington Life Shelter executive director Stephanie R. Melchert couldn’t be more grateful for the partnership between the shelter and Webb. The Arlington Life Shelter serves up to 120 individual men, women and children every day, and provides families with everyday necessities.

“These donations impact the families and individuals that we serve daily. Such items that we request from this partnership are items that are considered daily basic needs, such as toilet paper, paper towels, laundry soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc., and food items like snacks,” said Melchert.

Melchert said that kids like Charlie are examples of the patience, kindness and love needed in the community.

“It warms my heart and makes it swell knowing that Charlie’s intentions are pure. It also makes me go back to his parents and the support of Webb and his teachers for instilling these values,” Melchert said.

“Our children (and adults) live in the age of instant gratification — where we expect everything to come to us instantly,” she said. “This comes at the cost of losing attributes like patience, kindness, goodness, love, community, etc. This is a true testament to his parents for taking the time with Charlie to instill these intentions and attributes that gives him his pure heart.”

Webb assistant principal Brian Gomez was so proud of Charlie and his lemonade stand that he matched his $157! That’s right, Gomez personally donated $157. Then Gomez went a step further and asked the construction company that just built the new Webb building, , and Jim Evans, the 91��Ƭ�� project manager who managed the construction, to match Charlie’s earnings, and they agreed.

“It starts with Charlie,” said Gomez. “Here at Webb, we want to lead by example and build a certain culture and relationships with our community. I can’t take credit for any of this. Charlie is a rockstar and exemplifies what Webb is all about.”

If you would like to match Charlie’s donation to the Arlington Life Shelter, click ��