All she wanted to do was sell lemonade, soda, and cookies. And then donate her sales to a hunger-relief organization.
But Alizay Kashif got the shock of her 11-year-old life when a group of teenagers stole her collection jar that contained all of her sales for that day. She was in such a shock and couldn’t move that her friend was the one who ran to the house to tell Alizay’s mother about the robbery.
Alizay wanted to give back to the community of Chicago, where she’s from, and donate whatever sales she makes to Feeding America.
Feeding America is the US’ largest domestic hunger-relief organization. They want to provide food for the hungry in America through food banks all over the US.
Besides food, they also strive to provide for the other needs of the community. They also offer community-specific programs to keep the families, especially the children, healthy and well, and also teach families about following food budgets.
That’s why it broke Alizay’s heart when her money was stolen. And it broke her father’s heart, too.
The idea to put up the lemonade stand came from Alizay, who wanted to test her entrepreneurship skills. She decided to place the stand in front of her house, where she sold lemonade, soda, and chocolate chip cookies for $1 each.
But the problem is Alizay lived on a street that didn’t get a lot of traffic. So after two and a half hours, she only made $9.
Her father, Kashif Zaman, hated what he saw. He offered to buy from his daughter but Alizay refused.
“She told me, ‘I need some real customers,'” Zaman said.
So Zaman left her alone to sell.
Alizay’s luck was about to turn though.
Two teenagers and potential customers came up to their stand and ask about their products. They wanted to buy some lemonade but didn’t have any cash with them. They said they’d go get some and they’ll come back.
She was so happy when the two teenagers came back in a car with two other friends.
They went up to the stand and asked again how much she charged for the lemonade. When they were about to pay, they grabbed Alizay’s collection jar instead and ran off with her money.
“At first I thought it was a prank,” Alizay said. “I was about to cry when it happened.”
Zaman wanted to help his daughter and turned to ask for help on a social media platform called Nextdoor. Nextdoor aims to facilitate connections between neighbors. He received around 50 to 60 replies which had one thing in common. They all encouraged Alizay to keep selling.
Ben Hutchison, a former television reporter in Milwaukee, was one of the people who replied to Zaman.
“I often come across stories of people in horrible situations. I always wished I could do more,” Ben said.
And he realized he could do something to help with this one. He invited Alizay to set up her lemonade stand in front of his house at the corner of Charles Avenue and Gartner Road in Naperville, Illinois, where a lot of traffic passes through.
Alizay took him up on his offer and set up her stand on a Sunday morning.
As soon as she opened for business, customers came in droves. They said they read about her story on Nextdoor and wanted to support her. Even the police heard about her story.
A motorcade of Naperville police cars arrived, with sirens blaring.
Not only did they buy lemonade from Alizay, but they had also asked everyone at the police station if they can donate to Alizay’s cause. The police officers helped out and they were able to give Alizay an additional $170 to donate to her cause.
“I think that really made the day,” Alizay said. “I think that was super nice, and it played a really big part.”
All in all, she was able to raise $348, which she will personally hand over to the local chapter of Feeding America.
“I can only imagine being hungry,” Alizay told Feeding America. “Getting to help hungry people is an honor and a blessing.”
Watch the video below to listen to Alizay’s interview about her selfless efforts.
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