Two young philanthropists are showing residents in Burnaby that it's never too early to start giving to those less fortunate.
While most kids were out enjoying the sunshine, eight-year-old Mark and sevenyear-old Charlotte Pathyil Johannes spent July 17 raising money for the Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver. The Burnaby siblings set up a small lemonade stand with some of the other kids in their Deer Lake neighbourhood, selling the homemade drink to passersby and neighbours. At the end of the day, they had raised $125 for the society.
"We have really nice neighbours and it's a very nice little community. People just come and give money, so while we were charging 50 cents, most people gave us five dollars," Ann Pathyil Johannes - Mark and Charlotte's mom - told the NOW.
This is actually the fourth year Mark and Charlotte have run a charity lemonade stand. Over the past few years, they've raised money for the Children's Wish Foundation, the food bank and other charities in the community.
This year, the children chose to donate their earnings to the Elizabeth Fry Society - to which they have a close connection through their mother, who is chair of the society - and its JustKids initiative, which sends at-risk kids or kids with a parent in prison to the new Blue Sky Overnight Summer Camp.
"It felt pretty good because I've never raised that much money in my whole life," Mark said. "Even one person gave us 20 bucks."
And this is just the tip of the iceberg for these young fundraisers.
"We are very lucky, and there's a lot of people that don't have a chance to have the stuff that we have like Lego and food and a mom or dad or money," Mark said.
For the past few years, Mark and Charlotte have been donating half the money they receive for their birthdays to other charities in and around Burnaby.
"We don't ask for presents, we ask for money instead," Ann said. "It teaches them a lot about giving stuff away."
They also help their mother with her work at Elizabeth Fry and donate their old clothes and toys to those less fortunate than themselves.
"As much as they can, they understand what we do at (Elizabeth Fry) and also what lots of other organizations try and do, because I want them to be socially aware," she said. "It's something they like to do."
For more information on Elizabeth Fry's JustKids initiative, visit the website at www.just-kids.ca.
