Posted on 17 January 2013 by La Habra Journal
By Jay Seidel
La Habra Journal
Most teens in America are always in search of the next new gadget or device, and birthdays mark an opportunity for teens to get their hands on them. However, for one La Habra teen, her birthday was something much more than that. It was a chance to help others.
Alexandria (Alex) Barber didn’t want the latest and greatest electronic gadget when she turned 13 last week. She instead wanted to turn her energy to help others. She held a charity lemonade stand for her birthday.
“When discussing her birthday, she approached her father and I saying she wanted to ‘do something different’, but wasn’t sure we’d let her,” Stephanie Barber explained. “She was turning 13, it’s a big birthday and we could only imagine what she had in store for us. What she said shocked us. “
Alex decided to raise money to benefit Containers of Hope, a non-profit charity that provides backpacks filled with needed materials for children around the world.
“I wanted to help them because of what they do,” Alex said.
Last year, Alex and her mother, Stephanie, worked at Containers of Hope, helping stuff backpacks. Alex was moved by this experience and connected with Todd Williams (one of the co-founders) during this event, and even offered him advice on how to make the process better.
“When I spoke to Todd and Jana, they were very touched,” Stephanie said. “They loaned us the posters for their Containers of Hope so we could put them up on the day of the lemonade stand, as well as gave us calendars and bracelets with actual childrens’ names stamped on them.”
The plan was set to have the lemonade stand. The Barbers told some friends and Stephanie sent a note out to her friends on Facebook. Word began to spread.
Soon people started contacting the Barbers and donating money and food to sell at the lemonade stand.
Alex’s father Darrin explained that they raised $800 before they even opened the stand.
“I was hoping it would be big,” Alex said, “but I thought I’d be lucky if I made $10.”
She had set a goal to raise $1,000. The community came out and had a steady stream of customers donating money. Her total is just over $2,000 with more still coming in by mail.
With the large turnout, Alex said poignantly, “When the community comes together anything is possible.”