Alabama girl, 7, starts lemonade stand to pay for mom’s headstone, raises $15K
A little girl in Alabama raised enough money from a lemonade stand to get her mother a proper headstone – and then some.
Emouree Johnson, 7, lost her mother, Karli Bordner, unexpectedly on March 13, according to the Jackson County Sentinel.
Karli died just a few days short of her 30th birthday, and was buried a few days later.
The first time Emouree went to the Rehobeth Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery in Guntersville with her grandmother, Jennifer Bordner, she was upset that her mom’s plot did not have a proper headstone.
“It felt like she was being left out,” Emouree told CBS News of staring at the sea of granite grave markers compared to her mother’s small, metal plaque.
Bordner explained to her granddaughter the family could not afford anything else.
Emouree immediately came up with the idea to raise money for a headstone by holding a lemonade stand, the proud grandmother said.
The stand started with just four lemons, until donations quickly poured in.
“I really didn’t think anything of it,’ she said, ‘I just want to do it to help out with my mommy’s stuff.’ And she told me to take a picture of her and put it on Facebook,” Bordner told the Sentinel.
Emouree initially did not mention her cause, but word got out and sent Good Samaritans to the sidewalk stand in droves, the outlet said.
Even though the price of a cup of lemonade was only $1, passerby often handed over much more.
“The most that we got from one cup of lemonade was $300,” Emouree told the Sentinel.
Thanks to the publicity a monument company offered to donate a fitting headstone, Bordner shared in a Facebook update.
The $15,000 raised at the stand will now help offset the funeral costs, she explained.
“Your kindness generosity love for Emouree her mother’s funeral is paid and the headstone is being donated thanks to everyone. I have never experienced something so amazing a gift from God for Emouree. This has been an amazing blessing I can’t say thank you enough,” the emotional tribute read.
The extra money will go a long way for the family, as Karli did not have insurance when she died, the Sentinel noted.
Shortly after Karli’s death, Karli also lost her uncle, Steve, to a heart attack, CBS added.
“I hope my daughter can see how amazing this is and how especially wonderful her daughter is,” Bordner told WHNT-TV. “Thank you to everyone and thank God because this was one of the most painful things I ever experienced and this community has helped me.”
Emouree is still amazed by how many people came out to support her and her family.
“I didn’t know just making a little lemonade would bring this many people to my house. It’s fun, but it’s unbelievable at the same time,” she said.
