Alex’s Lemonade Stand, the 2007-2008 Michigan District Project, was created by four-year-old Alexandra Scott, who had a dream to help find a cure for childhood cancer. A victim of the disease herself, Alex set up the first Alex’s Lemonade Stand in her from front lawn with her brother in July 2000. Over the next few years, her cause evolved into a nationwide charity organization, and thousands of stands have been set up across the country to help raise money for her cause. Sadly, Alex passed away at the age of eight in 2004, when she had raised over one million dollars. However, her spirit and determination to fight cancer still lives on. Since her death, money raised for Alex’s Lemonade Stand has topped twelve million dollars. As a district, Michigan Key Club is helping her dream become reality by participating in her cause.

--Run a lemonade stand and donate the proceeds to Alex’s cause. This can be done virtually anywhere—at school lunches, in your neighborhood, at youth groups/church events, at a mall, at a fair, on the beach, or a local sporting event. Make sure that you tell customers about Alex’s cause and exactly where their money will be going towards. You may want to have brochures and flyers at your stand that help further explain Alex’s Lemonade Stand childhood cancer. See resources section on the bottom of this page for a sample flyer from www.alexslemonadestand.org

--Print out paper lemons and team up with local stores to sell them for $1 each. Also, encourage your community to purchase products from Alex’s Lemonade Stand gift shop online.

--Have an Alex’s Lemonade Stand birthday party. Instead of the usual lieu of gifts, ask your guests to donate any amount to Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

--Have a lemon-themed sale by selling all yellow things, or have a “Wear Yellow to School Day.”

--Make a donation in loving honor or memory to someone in your community who has had a struggle with cancer.

--Organize a 5K run or Walk-A-Thon.

--Have a food tasting event at your school, and be sure to include lemonade and lemon tasting as well!

--Host an Alex’s Coffee House and serve breakfast, coffee, and baked goods and desserts. Organize entertainment from the music and theater department, and ask students to promote all around. Be sure to set an appropriate admission fee, and put containers for donation.

--Visit your local elementary and middle schools to teach about cancer, its cause, and its consequences. In addition to speaking to the students, have them do several activities with Alex’s Lemonade Stand, including having a coloring contest using Alex’s pages (see resources at the bottom of this section), helping them make their own lemons and lemon cups out of paper and clay, and reading to them “Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand”.

--Have members make “Alex’s Lemonade mini-stands”, which are paper boxes shaped like a lemonade stand, and place them in classrooms and ask students to donate. See resources on the bottom of this page for instructions and the mini-stand template from Alex’s Lemonade Stand’s official website.

--Hold an yellow-themed Easter Egg search in April and have all participating families pay a small fee to participate. Donate proceeds to “Alex’s Lemonade Stand.”

--Publishing a newspaper article about Alex’s Lemonade Stand” to raise further awareness.