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Homeless Children Raise Money for Special Olympics

by ARLnow.com | August 21, 2012 at 3:15 pm | 2,384 views | 24 Comments

Homeless children from a shelter in Arlington will be donating more than $500 to the Special Olympics this afternoon.

The children live in Sullivan House, a shelter for homeless families in Clarendon run by the Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless. Together with parents, volunteers, and AACH staff, thirteen children between the ages of five and 13 ran a lemonade stand outside the shelter throughout the summer. They raised just over $1,000, according to AACH Lauren Marigot Barth.

“They learned about customer service, managing money, and marketing,” Barth said. “They also did a really good job!”

The children voted to donate half of the money raised to the Special Olympics. A representative from the organization – which organizes athletic competitions for children and adults with intellectual disabilities — will be on hand at Sullivan House this afternoon to officially receive the donation.

The rest of the money will help to fund a trip to Busch Gardens.

Photos courtesy Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless

Children from a homeless shelter in Clarendon ran a lemonade stand over the summer to raise money for the Special Olympics (courtesy Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless)

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JimPB

Those who have little give generously.

“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” — Jesus
- Elmer
  
  Yes, and that also brings to mind the recent survey indicating the poorer red states give more generously to charity than the wealthier blue states.
  - Stats
    
    Utah was first DC was number 2
    - Brian
      
      …and if you take out giving money to your church, then it’s the blue states who give more.
      - tammy fay bakker
        
        don’t you dare take away my money…satan!
      - Janet
        
        Really? I’d love to see your data. I work in this arena and beg to differ.
      - Amanda
        
        Exact same survey as the original quote.
Elmer

Good cause and good kids. I trust either they did not encounter the red tape/regulatory prohibitions other kids with lemonade stands have from local bureaucracies in this nation, i.e., sign ordinances advertising their lemonade stand, health dept. permits, zoning and business/soliciting licensing, or perhaps they were able to satisfactorily address those concerns?
- County Inspector
  
  Thanks for bringing these scofflaws to our attention…..we will be all over them like “ugly on an ape” !!!
JimboJones

Good job for everyone involved. I stopped by several times on my way home from work this summer and could tell the kids were having a great time with this.
John Fontain

What cute kids and what a fantastic job they did. They should be proud of their hard work. They deserve the trip to Busch Gardens!!
South Awwlington

Kids who have little or nothing giving their proceeds to Special Olympics…a class act.

We ought to do something to make their trip to Busch Gardens more memorable.

http://www.aachhomeless.org/donation/
SomeGuy

Kudos to these kids. Because any comment short of gushing praise on this story seems to get removed. So kudos!
Electricbill

I think this a wonderful story! I hope those kids have a great time at Busch Gardens!
linda

This is such a great news story – they should be so proud of themselves! Sorry I was never in the area to buy some of their lemonade.
JimPB

Wonderful comments of recognition, and virtually no cynical comments.
- SomeGuy
  
  Comments that even bordered on possibly being somehow misconstrued as cynical were removed by mods. That’s why.
http://www.espn.com Todd Todd

great story here!
http://www.arlnow.com Lauren

I agree – great to see these kids learning so many skills and lessons, and giving their talents and money to help others. Wonderful life lessons.

I also hope they have a fantastic trip and I’m sorry I never walked past their lemonade stand.
- AL
  
  I drove past it once, and had no idea what it was. I don’t like lemonade so much, but i would’ve gladly donated cash if I knew it was for something like this!
Tommy

Janet, there are multiple studies supporting what Brian said. Here is an excerpt from a writeup on one recent one:

“Take away churches as charities, however, and red states no longer dominate the world of donations. Instead, New England – a region that leans Democratic, with far fewer religiously affiliated Americans but with more affluent residents – catapults toward the top.”

Read more: http://moneyland.time.com/2012/08/21/how-religious-affiliation-affects-charitable-giving/#ixzz24IFqMvKs

And, great job, kids at the shelter!
Tommy

I’ve tried twice to post a reply to Janet with the data she wants, but for some reason the posts don’t appear.
MM

I emailed Busch Gardens with a link to the article but they replied with some kind of run of the mill ‘Send us a letter and we’ll get back to you’ process. I did however find the Busch Garden’s Company Directory with a list of individuals, their positions, and e-mail addresses. Not sure who to send the request to though…

Here’s the link if anyone has more insight than I: http://www.jigsaw.com/id52223/1/busch_gardens_company_directory.xhtml
AL

Is there any way to donate to the kids’ Busch Gardens trip? Is it too late?

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