beginnings
how I got started | Our daughter Alexandra "Alex" Scott was a
childhood cancer patient. When she was almost four, the doctors had
given up hope on her prognosis, so we sought experimental treatments. We
discovered a hospital in Philadelphia that was willing to accept Alex
into a clinical trial of a new treatment for her cancer. This treatment
improved Alex's condition to the point that she was able to have a stem
cell transplant, which previously had been out of the question. After
Alex had her stem cell transplant, she told Liz that she wanted to set
up a lemonade stand. She was a very stubborn girl and kept pestering
Liz, week after week, to let her have a lemonade stand. Liz asked her,
"Why? We can buy you a toy, if that's what you're after." Alex told her
she wanted to raise money so other kids could have the same experimental
treatment she had had in Philadelphia that had improved her health so
much. So we helped her set up a lemonade stand in the front yard and
she raised ,000. We sent a check to the hospital and the doctors were
thrilled. Our family moved from Connecticut to Philadelphia so Alex
could have access to more treatment options. Alex wanted to do another
lemonade stand after the move; we didn't have the support system of
family and friends that we'd had back home, so we didn't know how it
would go. We tried to put her off, but she wouldn't be deterred, and
rather late in the season, Alex had her lemonade stand. She was out
there in her winter coat, but still pulled in 0. She told us she
"only" made 0 because we'd made her wait until too late in the
season. The next June she had another lemonade stand, this time in
memory of her friend who had died. She raised ,000. It was amazing.
Different media outlets had told Alex's story, and people around the
country started having lemonade stands and sending Alex the money to
help with the kids' cancer issue. She continued to raise more money each
year while still fighting her own illness. By 2004, she wasn't doing
very well, and we all knew she didn't have much time. She was
interviewed by a women's magazine, and she told them, "Last year I
raised 0,000- this year I'm going to raise million. If other
people can help, I can do it." She was eight-years-old and we knew it
would be her last lemonade stand. She went on Oprah and the Today show,
and people responded. She raised 0,000, and Volvo pledged to take
her over a million. She died that year. We thought when she died, the
lemonade stands would be over, but too many people called and wanted to
keep them going. We talked it over and made the decision to form a
nonprofit.
inspiration
why this job?| We often speak at events on clinical trials and so
many people have told us that they wanted to try an experimental
treatment because of Alex. Childhood cancer touched our lives, and we
wanted to make sure other parents didn't have to go through what we did.
love
why I love this job!| We love the kids - kids with cancer have
such a love of life and they cherish every day. Seeing how many great
people there are: literally hundreds of thousands of people have helped
us. Working in our daughter's memory is a special gift she left us.
work
my typical day| We do a lot of public speaking, to groups who
want to do a lemonade event and to peple who are teaching kids how to
make a difference. We also work with our advisors to decide on ways to
spend the funds to best help kids with cancer.
challenges
what they are | One of the biggest challenges is to keep our
grassroots feel as we grow- it's why so many people got involved in the
first place, so we work to maintain that. Keeping the story fresh can be
a challenge.
upside
all about growth | With nonprofits, there is a tremendous
potential for growth. If nonprofits can tell people what they are doing,
they can support you.
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