'Lemonade War' sparks Seven Springs battle for charity

NEW PORT RICHEY— It was a campaign that pitted the boys against the girls.

Each morning, members of the Florida Future Educators of America showed up to school early to set up dueling lemonade stands on the campus of Seven Springs Elementary.

"Get your lemonade from the girls!" was the common pitch from kids like Sara Reid and Taylor Akers, both 10, as they vied for customers. "Just a dollar for the girls."

Of course, it was all in good fun — a way to bring the Sunshine State Reader book The Lemonade War to life while raising money for a good cause.

For the past few months, all students at the school read The Lemonade War, the story about a brother and sister who go on an all-out battle over who can sell the most lemonade during the last days of summer vacation.

It was a fun schoolwide read, no doubt, and some thought it would be fun to have their own lemonade war at Seven Springs Elementary.

So media specialist Barbara Huling and assistant media specialist Lorna Conley teamed up with FFEA sponsor and teacher Holly Wilson to get another schoolwide campaign going that would reach outside the school's walls.

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer, started by 4-year-old Connecticut cancer patient Alexandra Scott, who died in August 2004, was the perfect outreach, said Wilson, who is a brain cancer survivor.

"This really touched my heart," she said.

It also was an ideal way to put her group into action.

FFEA students typically come to school early each day to help teachers with things like grading and filing papers and decorating bulletin boards. It takes commitment from both the FFEA students and their parents, who must transport their children to school each day.

"We're a service group," Wilson said, noting past outreach efforts such as a toy drive for children who lost theirs during Hurricane Katrina and a pet food drive for the local Humane Society. "That's what the kids like," Wilson said. "Animals and other kids."

As for manning the lemonade stand, that was a big hit for kids like Sara.

"I love it," she said. "It's for a good cause, and I think it's good that we're helping children with cancer."

In the end, the kids raised $488, Wilson said.

he tossed in the extra $12 "so we could make it an even $500."