Fundraiser Details
When
Where
Elks Antlers Lodge #23 presents:
Brigantine Spring into Action "CYCLE" for Alex's:
Caring Youth Create Loving Environments
South Jersey Families Cycle throughout our beautiful island to help kids with cancer
When? June 1, 2013
Time: 9:30AM Registration at the Brigantine Community Center
10:00AM Family Cycling Event starts from the Brigantine Community Center
Participants will bike along a designated path from lemonade stand to lemonade stand.
Event will end up outside of the Brigantine Elks Lodge at 11:00AM for a picnic lunch on the Elks lawn.
Thank you for visiting our Fundraising Page! Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support our fundraising efforts. Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!
We've entered our EIGHTH year running Stands and inspiring others to join us in our efforts to help this cause! We hope to reach $50,000 to help kids with cancer! We were lucky enough to be chosen by the Foundation to attend their Leadership Academy at Villanova University this past summer. We were inspired to think of new ways to raise funds by gaining support for the Foundation.
This year we are hoping to gain more support from community groups, businesses, and schools! We launched a letter-writing campaign to Preschools and the Parent-Teacher Associations of area Elementary Schools hoping to gain support for the Foundation. We know that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of this, we hope these preschools and schools will plan to run some sort of stand or stands either in the Fall or anytime this year, to help kids with cancer. We thought: Who would understand better the importance of helping kids with cancer than people who care for kids such as parents, teachers, and daycare providers? That is why we decided to reach out to them.
Great ways schools can run stands are at Back-to-School Night, Parent-Teacher Conference Nights, and/or other special event days such as Fall Festivals. Some schools such as the Leeds Avenue School in Pleasantville, got their Student Council Representatives involved in running the stand. Parents of kids are very willing to donate lemonade mix and baked goods which can go for a donation of someone's choice at the stand! Some even have pencils and other supplies for sale at their stand with proceeds going to the cause! Families can even be asked to donate, or kids can donate to the cause and Lemons can be hung throughout the building for each donation given! The possibilities are endless!
Our stand was after all originally inspired by a school's stand. We believe that Smithville School was the first elementary school to run an Alex's Lemonade Stand through their G.E.M. Classes. Since our mom teaches at that school, she found out about Alex and brought the story home to us...read more to find out how we got started!
History of "Brigantine's Own" Alex's Lemonade Stand as it has been come to be Named
by Julie Mandes Exhausted, Proud, and Happy Mom and Community Member
After hearing about Alex's Lemonade Stand through Alex's Story which I told them after hearing it at Smithville School, my then 10-year-old twins, Joseph and Michael wanted to help. Michael asked if we could run a stand weekly to help the cause. We did so that year. We have continued our efforts ever since, although the stand format has developed over the years.
The first summer, our family ran a weekly stand on the corner of 9th Street South and Ocean Avenue and also ran our first Family Fun Day Stand. The boys were noted for their volunteerism by Mayor Guenther, and they were recognized for the great number of hours they put into volunteering, by earning the Gold Presidential Award for Volunteerism at the age of 10; after Donna Andros, Girl Scout Leader, informed our family and they the school about the availability of such an award and the fact that the boys easily qualified for it already, even though it is a challenging award to get.
The second summer, our family realized that we made most of our funds at Big Events so we tried to challenge ourselves to raise more funds; in less time spent volunteering. This is why we decided to run our stand only at Big community events that year; including: Family Fun Day, the Historical Society's Flea market; Hooked on Fishing; and the Triathlon. It was this year that we were invited by the Elks to run our stand at the Brigantine Elks Bayfest. (Don Irons, currently Past Exalted Ruler, and NJ State Elks Region 1 Youth Chair was instrumental in leading other community organizations to be aware of the efforts of the Mandes Family Stand, as it was then known, to raise funds for Pediatric Cancer Research. He was the one who also invited my husband and myself to be members of the Elks and the rest is history! That year, through the encouragement of Mr. Irons, the V.F.W., the American Legion, and the Elks all made donations to the stand. I believe it was also during this year, that Ms. Pollack, from the Alex Hotel found us in Brigantine and decided she wanted to connect with us in some way to help.
The third summer, the boys told us during one of our family meetings about our ideas for the stand that they wanted to run stands weekly AND at big community events! I, myself, a Smithville School 4th Grade Teacher who stays at home during the summers, decided to continue to follow my sons' lead and get involved in this way. The stand was quite a success; but our family was truly exhausted at the end of that summer and needed to take a vacation from our "vacation" and celebrated at Disney during Spring Break I believe.
The fourth summer that we ran our stand, we decided to change the format to holding "ONE BIG STAND AGAINST PEDIATRIC CANCER" yearly at Brigantine's Family Fun Day. This we did through 2009; each year, getting more and more business support to make the stand's proceeds increase! This was done along with online fundraising and a letter-writing campaign to help the cause.
The more business and community support our stand received, the more it was evident to us that this stand was not ours; it was Brigantine's! That is when it came to be called: Brigantine's Own Alex's Lemonade Stand"!
In 2009, the boys decided to start a contest which they called the Youth Challenge Contest. A few different groups of youth participated informally. Some were from Galloway. A few of the boys' friends in Brigantine helped them with their stands they were holding at the Smile Factory.
In 2010, the stand started evolving even further. It marked the year Michael developed the Magic Lemonade Grants of Jumbo Canisters of Lemonade to youth who would pledge to attempt to raise at least $100 for the cause. Our goal was to inspire other youth and their families in our community to join our team to raise funds to help our town reach our fundraising goal and continue to help fund pediatric cancer research. Our family along with help from the Youth Alliance, ran stands at the Brigantine Elks Seafood Fest and Bayfest. The Magic Lemonade Stand idea proved to expand the"Youth Challenge Contest" we ran in 2009. We knew that prior to this year; the two young people who were consistent supporters of the stand since 2007 were Anna Maria Carozzo and Hannah Towhey! After Annamaria's mom shared with her about the boys' stand; she was inspired to run her own stand on Ocean Avenue with the help of her friend, Hannah. They have done so for 5 years now here in Brigantine and donated through the larger "Brigantine's Own" Stand.
Note their amazing record! It's something they should be proud of!:
Progress of Anna Maria Carrozzo and Hannah Towhey's Stand Efforts along with their friends
(Fun Fact: Annamaria was only 7-years old when she held her first stand)
Jordan Axler 2011 Magic Stand Raised a Total of $368.00
Tamara Miller $71
Alex Zollner, Rocco Mancuso, and Chase Kaplan: $191.41
Now "Brigantine’s Own" Alex’s Lemonade Stand has evolved into a community-wide effort. At the Elks Seafood Fest stand, run by the our Family, Joseph and Michael, then 15-years-old, launched their idea of Magic Lemonade. Ten Magic Lemonade Grants were given out to 10 youth who inquired by contacting us via email or phone. The Lemonade Challenge Contest was "on".
Did you know that anyone can hold a stand anytime to benefit the Foundation? “Brigantine’s Own” Alex’s Lemonade Stand is what our stand has come to be known since we have been holding it in Brigantine for 7 summers, now, and it has become a community effort!
With the exception of our first team stand leader, Anna Maria Carrozzo, who started supporting the cause 5 summers ago, the stand was originally run by the Mandes Family with the support of the Brigantine Community; townspeople, local businesses, and organizations, in the form of donations. However, now, the stand has truly developed into a community effort; with teams running stands for the cause and submitting through Brigantine's Own Stand to see how much we can raise when we work together to hold stands.
At the beginning of the summer of 2010, we had raised just about $23,000. Now, with the help of other teams of caring people joining us in our effort, our group has surpassed our original goal of reaching $25,000 raised for the cause and we have increased our goal to that of reaching a total of $50,000 raised.
It is about our community pulling together to help the cause. It wouldn't be so successful without everyone coming together to support the stand in one way or another. See our photo album on this site to see the great people who truly make up what has come to be known as Brigantine's Own Alex's Lemonade Stand. In 2010 we held an award's ceremony to honor our members. Photos of this are also in our album.
In 2011, our Stand received the honor of the Elks Starfish Award for going above and beyond in Volunteerism. Joseph and Michael received Elks Starfish Leadership awards for the same thing. Proudly Annamaria Carrozzo, Hannah Towhey and friends received Elks Starfish Awards, too for their dedication to this cause over the years!
Well, now we are reaching out to those businesses who helped us get our firm foundation and supported us from the start! We sent them letters of thanks and asked if they might send some support our way to reach our new goal.
We also have expanded our name to Kids for Kids with Cancer Stand 5115 as we are reaching BEYOND our own community and making this a Regional Effort to get area P.T.A.s and Preschools involved in helping Kids with Cancer. We hope our efforts will inspire others to get involved, too!
Anyone inspired by us to help and wishing to submit the funds, should be sure to list this fundraising page E5115 to have your funds go towards reaching our goal so we can see what we can raise together for this very worthy cause. You can turn the proceeds in through this fundraising page and note who you or your group is in the message section. Or you can mail your donation in listing the fundraising page code: E5115, to the Foundation, so your proceeds can be counted toward achieving the goal!
If you feel more comfortable, you can also contact the Mandes Family and get a check to them from your proceeds of your stand, made out to "Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation". We can also submit it for you.
Call us at 266-4119 if you have any questions.
Tips for Stand Success:
- Be creative in fundraising!
- Ask for support of adults!
- Get businesses to sponsor you and include their names on a sign at your stand as a thank you!
- Be crafty! Make something and sell it at your stand along with your lemonade to benefit the cause.
- Musically talented? Hold a concert for your friends and family with a lemonade "twist".
- Are you an artist? Hold your own Art Show for Family and Friends asking for "donations" to this cause instead of payment for your artwork?
- Like to party with friends? Hold an Alex's Lemonade Pizza Party...with the only thing your friends need to bring being a donation to the cause! You can have fun all while helping to raise funds!
- If you put your own talents into your idea, it is sure to be a success!
Tips:
Be sure to list that 100 Percent of your proceeds will go to the Foundation. If holding a traditional stand, remember...sometimes the best way to get donations is to not set a price for your lemonade, but instead say...Lemonade for a donation of your choice to help Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation! Did you know that a Brigantine Resident once donated $100 for a glass of lemonade?
Please take photos of your stand and get permission to send them to us at 4417 Whalerman Road and we will try to include them on this web site as "FACES of Brigantine's Own Alex's Lemonade Stand".
Anna Maria Carozzo, was the top youth supporter in the Mandes boys' Lemonade Stand Challenge in 2008 and 2009! She has held stands since 2007 and donated the proceeds through our stand! We wonder who else will join our Team in our effort to fund Pediatric Cancer Research!
REMEMBER…Alex Scott was so very young when she had the idea of helping kids with cancer by running a Lemonade Stand. She knew something that many adults didn’t know…that youth can make a big difference in our world! She believed in this…and now the world knows it is true!
We thank all of the adults who supported our efforts over the years! The Stand would not be successful without you.
Special thanks goes out to: The Brigantine Elks Lodge 2428; The V.F.W. Post 6964
Check out our listing below for our Stand's overall fundraising accomplishments over the years!
Here is a listing of our Community Stand's Progress:
Summer 2005 $2,000
Summer 2006 $3,000
Summer 2007 $10,000
Summer 2008 $6,056
Summer 2009 $1,516
(From the summers of 2005 through 2009, we raised about $22,572 total! THIS WAS BEFORE MAGIC LEMONADE STANDS TEAMS WERE STARTED!)
Summer 2010 $5,472.70
Summer 2011 $2,295.30
plus $1,150.00
Congratulations to EVERYONE INVOLVED OVER THE YEARS, FOR PULLING TOGETHER! THE ACCOMPLISHMENT IS AMAZING!
A special thanks to local businesses who have supported our efforts over the years:
The Smile Factory Rita’s Waterice Riptide Bait and Tackle RiteAid
Hot Bagels & More The Right Touch Spa Aversa’s Bakery Red Door Spa
Sweet Dreams Ernest & Son Meat Market Hooper’s Seafood Café Aunt B’s
Macedonian Grill Goochie Brothers Walmart Shoprite Pirate’s Den
Laguna Grill Brigantine Nautilus Atlantic City CRUISES PRETZEL FACTORY
CARRABBA’S Outback Steakhouse Target Home Depot McDonalds Acme
Brigantine Elks Lodge 2428* Century 21 O’Donnell The Alex Hotel
Borgata Heart & Soul Foundation BRIGANTINE SUPERMARKET STEAK 38
ENROUTE COMPUTER SOLUTIONS Eckerd McDonalds in Absecon
STACY’S PITA CHIPS
Lowe’s Dr. Howard Hassman B.J.’s WAWA The Comedy Stop
Kline-McAnney American Legion Post 396 The Links at Brigantine Beach