Saturday Sewell Stand to Benefit Alex’s Lemonade

It is lemonade season all around South Jersey. 

Eight-year-old cancer survivor and Washington Township Birches Elementary School student Cole Fitzgerald and his family will host an Earth Day Lemonade Stand to benefit Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer on Saturday, April 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Washington Lake Park, in Sewell.

Cole was diagnosed with stage four Neuroblastoma five years ago, at the age of 3. When his family began researching the disease, which is an aggressive form of pediatric cancer, they found Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF). ALSF was a lifeline to the Fitzgerald family in the early days of treatment and continues to provide them with information resources, chances to connect with other families battling cancer, and an opportunity to raise funds and awareness of childhood cancer. 

Nicknamed the "Fightin’ Fitzgeralds" by an oncologist, the family has been a dedicated ambassador for ALSF for four years. In addition to hosting lemonade stands, the family helps organize other fundraising events and also shares Cole’s inspirational story of survival. 

“We think hosting a lemonade stand in beautiful Washington Lake Park (in concert with Washington Township's Earth Day activities) is such a perfect event since we are saving children … the Earth’s most precious gift. We’re saving the children one cup at a time,” said Keren, Cole’s mother. 

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation is a Pennsylvania-based organization that raises money to fund research for new treatments and cures for childhood cancer. The organization emerged from the front-yard lemonade stand of pediatric cancer patient Alexandra “Alex” Scott (1996-2004). At the age of 4, Alex announced that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer.

Since Alex held that first stand, the foundation bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement, raising more than $50 million and funding more than 200 research projects.

In addition to the lemonade stand this week, spring and summer will bring additional Alex's Lemonade Stands to South Jersey.

If you cannot make it in person to Saturday's Alex's Lemonade Stand in Washington Lake Park, you can make a tax-deductible donation here.