On August 15 the Mehno family held an Alex Lemonade Stand at their Home. I wanted to use this as a learning experience for my kids to teach them what it means to give back to the community and also, this charity has been very close to my heart as my dad passed away of cancer and I know how devastating it is to lose a loved one so I cannot even imagine what it means to have a child sick with this illness.
Our first customer was this “Super Dad” from West Windsor. This very friendly gentleman that started asking my children and me questions about why we were hosting an Alex Lemonade Stand. So I told him a little about my dad and my in-laws Little did I know, .he told me that his little boy, or should I say his Big Boy, who is 8 and attends one of the schools, was diagnosed with cancer. He very quickly told me that his boy was going to be fine because they have been able to detect the illness in the early stages.
However, he said that he got so much support from the organization Alex Lemonade Stand and the Church he attends and the community in general that he was very thankful that we were hosting a stand just to raise money for children with cancer. That “Super Dad” truly brought tears to my eyes because he made me realize that all my effort and all my energy spent in organizing this event was so worth it! That “Super Dad” who was my first customer really made it much more real for me, and I want to thank him so much for stopping by our stand and sharing his son’s story with us.
Also, Hemant Marathe and Gerald Halloran stopped by our stand, which allowed us to exchange some ideas of where we would like to see West Windsor in the next couple of years especially, having 3 out of 5 spots of the West Windsor Council up for re-election in November.
And last, but certainly not least, I wanted to thank very, very much the local organizations such as PNC Bank, Staples, and McCaffreys that help me with the expenses of the stand. All in all it was an AMAZING experience.
Veronica Mehno
West Windsor
