Annual 9/11 'LemonAid' day of action returns to River Forest this weekend
CHICAGO (CBS)-- The anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is coming up on Sunday.
While it's certainly a day of reflection, LemonAid, a group in River Forest has turned it into a day of action.
Nestled along Bonnie Brae Place in River Forest is LemonAid Place, a street sign with two decades of history and service.
"I think it's really nice to be able to give back to the community," Bib Bin Olson, LemonAid co-chair, said.
Cassidy Sturgeon, co-chair, said she has always celebrated and partaken in this event for as long as she can remember.
Olson and Sturgeon have been helping out with the event since they were two. Now, the 15-year-old teenagers are the co-chairs and help put on the entire event.
LemonAid start in 2002 after the September 11th attacks. The residents on 700 Bonnie Brae Place thought, why not turn that somber day of remembrance into a day of action?
"It's this huge block, charity event that we do every year and the whole community is involved," Planning committee member Abby Sears said. "The first year we started with one tent with a little bit of lemonade and we raised $400. Fast forward to 2016, and we raised $40,000."
Last year, thanks to grants, the event raised more than $100,000.
This year, the money raised will go to two charities. First is Maywood Fine arts, a nonprofit that offers dance, music and other training to children in Maywood. The second is Kindness Creators, an intergenerational preschool.
"We started a preschool that's inside a nursing home," Cofounder of Kindness Creators, Jamie Moran said. "So we built two classrooms and we let the residents come down. They volunteer and we do a bunch of activities with them."(butt)
Pam Lawrence, cofounder of Kindess Creators, said they will bring the money raised back tot he school to build a multisensory room. This will help kids work through their feelings and learn how to calm themselves down.
In the end, it's about children helping children, A lesson Olson and Sturgeon seem to have mastered.
To date, LemonAid has raised more than $500,000 for various charities.
This year's event is set for this Sunday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. You can come out and enjoy ice-cold lemonade, baked goods, activities for kids and live entertainment.