Ontario boy's lemonade stand attracts a crowd of first responders

Police, fire trucks and ambulances rushed to the scene of a small-scale Entrepreneurial enterprise in Ontario, Monday. The reason for their appearance was not for serious violations of the health code, abridgment of child labour laws, or any other such capitalist mischief, but to support the lemonade stand of a young boy with cancer.

Sam Cargill who pioneered the operation in Ajax, Ontario, is only four years old. Despite his young age, he has been diagnosed with stage four cancer which has made its way to the lungs.

A tumour had also grown on one of Sam’s kidneys. Both the kidney and tumour had to be removed. To treat his cancer, Sam has been undergoing chemotherapy.

The idea to erect a lemonade stand was prompted by the boy’s mother, Elizabeth Sokolowski. She hardly expected the weight of support from her community that came.

Sokolowski recalls, in a Facebook post, having asked Sam how he planned on giving back to The Hospital for Sick Children. The hospital was helping the boy the best they could.

“He immediately asked if he could have a lemonade stand,” writes Sokolowski.

Thus, a tent was promptly pitched on the family’s front lawn with a table sitting underneath. Ample lemonade was prepared as was a sibilant sign reading “Sam’s Stand for Sick Kids.”

As refreshments were being served to local residents, the young cancer fighter had to cover his ears when a flood of first responders began parading down his streets. One officer at the Durham Regional Police had read about Sam’s efforts on social media, and pulled together all the support they could.

“He was in heaven,” Sam’s mother described to CTV News. “Just a huge grin on his face.”

“Warrior Sam,” as he was nicknamed by members of the local force, pulled him into their vehicle for photos. As a spokesperson for the regional police commented, “I think this young guy really touched a lot of officers and they wanted to go and say hi and support him.”

With the added help the stand raised a hefty $6,000 for the Toronto hospital. Excited by the turnout, the family of lemonade tycoons has already set in place plans to make a come back in one year’s time.