Community Corner

Alex's Lemonade Stand Celebrates Life, Looks Toward Cure

On June 9, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation made its annual return to Penn Wynne Elementary School, which Alex attended, to raise money for pediatric cancer research.

When, 13 years ago, Alex Scott told her parents that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money for childhood cancer research, no one could have imagined that humble stand would evolve into the national fundraising organization we see today.

Except, maybe, for Alex—then, a 4-year-old neuroblastoma patient—who later told her parents that she wanted to raise $1 million for cancer research.

Since that first lemonade stand, , now headquarted in Wynnewood, has raised more than $50 million, funding more than 200 pediatric cancer research projects nationally, and honoring the legacy of Alex, who passed away in 2004.

The foundation has grown exponentially, with lemonade stands held country-wide by volunteers who share Alex's vision of ending childhood cancer. 

And though Alex’s Lemonade Stand has left the Scotts’ front yard, it returns to its roots each year, holding an "Original" Lemonade Stand one block away from the Scotts' home, at Penn Wynne Elementary School, which Alex attended.

This year's event, held Saturday, June 9, was attended by hundreds of Penn Wynne students, community members, local businesses and supporters. According to Gillian Kocher, public relations specialist for Alex's Lemonade, the event raised more than $70,000 for the foundation.

“It’s a big day for us as a foundation, and a really big day for me personally,” Alex's mom, Liz Scott, told the crowd on Saturday. “To do Alex’s Lemonade Stand every year in her memory is very special for us. It’s also very emotional— ... but that’s all the more reason why it’s important for us to come out and support this, and do all we can to find the cure that Alex didn’t have.”

After thanking supporters, Alex’s father Jay Scott shared some encouraging news in pediatric cancer research: the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia recently made a breakthrough in treatment of anaplastic large cell lymphoma in a study funded in part by Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.

“I just want to let you know how much it means to come out and help kids with cancer,” Jay said. “… What you’re doing here really makes a difference.”

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View photos from Saturday's event in the gallery above.


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