NAPOLEON, Ohio — Three local charities are getting $3,000, and it all started with an idea between two friends: nine-year-old Kellan Myers and 13-year-old Chloe Brink.
Close friends and family of the two kids have spent their lives battling life-threatening illnesses. So, they decided they wanted to dedicate a small portion of their lives to giving back.
Kellan's sibling, three-year-old Lane, was born with a heart condition, their father, Mark Myers, said.
"[Lane] has had multiple heart surgeries, two open chest and one open heart [surgery] and it's been a wild three years for us," Mark said.
For the Myers family, many of those years were spent in and out of hospitals and the local Ronald McDonald House. Experiencing the hardship, Kellan created a plan to give back with his friends: a lemonade stand.
"We had it all planned and all we had to do is get all the stuff ready and make the lemonade," Kellan said.
So, 12 kids in the neighborhood pulled together donations to create a lemonade stand and sold the drink for $1 per cup.
They decided to donate the funds they raised to three different organizations dedicated to causes friends had been impacted by: the Ronald McDonald House, The American Heart Association and The National Alopecia Foundation.
One friend, Addi Good, has alopecia. And Kinsley Durham was born prematurely. They all live on the same block as Lane Myers and the eight other kids.
From idea to execution, the effort was all done by the kids, Mark Myers said.
"The kids actually came up with it and it's been great, to see that some of the values that you instill in your kids that they go ahead and do that on their own," Mark said.
The Ronald McDonald House said there are plenty of ways for kids to get involved and help the charity organization focused on assisting families of injured or sick children.