River Forest residents mark 9/11 anniversary with lemonade stand to help others
RIVER FOREST, Ill. (CBS) – A big part of the 9/11 remembrance is making sure the next generation never forgets.
That was the focus of a fundraiser in River Forest. CBS 2's Sabrina Franza had the story.
A cup of lemonade 22 years ago started a tradition for a good cause.
"So we decided to do an activity that the kids were familiar doing," said Patty Henek. "Which was selling lemonade."
In 2002, Henek knew they had to do something to mark the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. At the beginning, it was a lemonade stand, a humble effort to raise money for local nonprofits.
It's become a much bigger moment since. They call it Lemon-Aid.
"Since then, our combined total is over $500,000," Henek said.
They raise money for charities that support children and families. The organizations rotate every year. Now, 22 years later, some of the kids who live on the River Forest block run the show.
"It helps build so much community not just with people on our block, but people everywhere who come to visit," said Evie Wynne, a sophomore at Fenwick High School.
Wynee was born in 2007. She said the event was the perfect opportunity to talk to other young people about what happened on Sept. 11, 2001.
"It's so important just to be remembered as such a historic event," she said.
They're remembering the lives lost on the banners that lined the block.
"Inviting people who are attending to write names of each of the victims, who are lost," said.
At the 22nd annual Lemon-Aid, Kids Helping Kids event, community members each wrote the name of a 9/11 victim, all 2,977.
They turned a day of remembrance into a day of action, passing on the stories of heroism for years to come.