On a Sunday in June, two Buford sisters set up shop in their driveway to sell refreshing lemonade with the proceeds going to buy food for a local food pantry.
From an early age, Katie, age 9 and Amy, age 6 have been taught by their mother, Maggie Pruitt, that they should give back to the community and those who were not as fortunate as them.
It was with this in mind on June 9, the sisters, aided by their parents, Dustin and Maggie, set up their lemonade stand after church in their driveway. The girls coordinated their outfits, decorated their table, made a promotional video and signs, and got ready to serve the best lemonade in town.
After Katie and Amy’s video promoting the lemonade stand was posted on social media by their mother, people began to show up to support the cause.
“Dustin and I sat outside and met people that we probably would have never gotten to meet otherwise and friends stopped by, co-workers stopped by,” said Maggie. “It was an afternoon of just awesome fellowship and community. It was the best afternoon.”
Not only did people support the cause by patronizing the lemonade stand, a few people even sent money via Venmo from places like Florida and the Grand Canyon. At the end of the day, Katie and Amy had raised $354 which they took to their local Kroger grocery store and purchased 148 boxes of cereal for the North Gwinnett Co-Op.
When they delivered the cereal, the shelves at the Co-Op were almost empty of cereal. Cereal is an important food item during the summer for the food bank because it is a quick and easy food that kids can fix themselves.
Katie and Amy picked the North Gwinnett Co-Op as the charity they wanted to benefit from their lemonade stand “because every day they give food to the people who don’t have money for it,” said Katie.
“I’m really proud of them, that at this age they’re excited to do a project that helps give back to others.,” said Maggie. “So if that’s my only accomplishment as a parent, I am pretty proud of that.”
They are no strangers to helping at the North Gwinnett Co-Op. They regularly donate food to the food bank and have volunteered there helping to stock shelves and do other tasks needed. The sisters have even emptied their own piggy banks and have taken the money to purchase food for the Co-Op.
The Pruitt family plans on hosting one more lemonade stand before school starts back. Katie and Amy hope to raise even more money to buy cereal for the North Gwinnett Co-Op.
Katie and Amy hope to inspire other kids in the community to talk to their parents and find ways that they too can give back to those in need.
In 2023, the North Gwinnett Co-Op served 37,178 people and distributed 608,477 pounds of food to local residents in need with 44% of those being children. For more information on the North Gwinnett Co-Op, visit their website at https://northgwinnettcoop.org/.
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