TOLEDO, Ohio — 8-year-old Tucker Hetterick is a third grader at St. Aloysius Elementary School in Bowling Green.
"He is by far the youngest volunteer in our food pantry and so he just adds a little fresh nuance to it," Jenny Swope, the administrator of the St. Aloysius food pantry said.
Outside of class, he spends time stocking items at the food pantry located next to his school. Items he bought with his own money.
"This year we bought some of the Hamburger Helper and noodles," Tucker said. "And then the rest of the money we gave to the church office and then the church office buys the food and we stock it."
It all started when he was just four years old.
"I'm really proud of myself and it's really cool," Tucker said.
He went with his mother one day to help distribute food to patrons and wanted to contribute even more.
"We told him, 'Hey, you could have a lemonade stand and if you raise the money, you can give it to the food pantry and you can buy food for the food pantry and that could be a different way that you could help it,'" said Heather Hetterick, Tucker's mom.
Five lemonade stands later and it's become one of the main sources of putting food on the pantry's shelves.
This year he was able to raise more than $900, an accomplishment Tucker said takes some serious and advanced planning.
"We have a meeting, I called it this year, and we talk about the dates, if we're going to add anything," Tucker said. "Last year we decided to add a drive-thru."
Each year, Tucker works on improving his fundraiser. He even made the chocolate chip cookies all by himself this year with a secret ingredient, which he said he can't share.
That secret ingredient along with handwritten flyers, and a bit of lemonade, all helps Tucker supply the pantry, serving food to about a hundred households per month.
"For him to conceptualize that and then put it into action at such a young age is pretty remarkable," Swope said.
Tucker said he raised $1000 last year and is hoping to expand his fundraiser and possibly bring some of his friends along to help him for next year's lemonade stand.