Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer

www.DailyRecord.com
BY VANESSA VERA ROMAN
8/13/10

CHESTER — Danny Brookes sat exhausted on the side of the road.

He was dusty, dripping in sweat, had a cramp in his thigh, a dried up bloody scrape on his arm and leg, and a smile on his face that stretched nearly as far as the trip ahead of him.

At that point in the afternoon, sitting at the corner of Route 206 and Four Bridges Road in Chester, Brookes and his friend Edwin Zhang, both 16 and rising juniors at West Morris Central High School, had already traveled about 23 miles in the blistering sun on a long board, a device similar to a skateboard often used for transportation and simulating the feeling of surfing or snowboarding for its rider.

There were just 177 more miles to go until the boys reached their destination: Cape May.

On Tuesday, Danny and Edwin, both of Long Valley, set out on their mission to skate 200 miles through the state, starting up north at High Point State Park and ending their journey in Cape May next week.

These guys may love skating on a long board, but this mission is far more important to them than clocking miles: Danny and Edwin are making the trip to raise money for childhood cancer research.

At the end of each day, they'll be setting up lemonade stands at various locations throughout their trip to raise money for Alex's Lemonade Stand, an organization that raises money for childhood cancer research. Wednesday, they set up shop at the ShopRite in Chester.

In the last two weeks, they've raised about $6,000; their goal is $20,000.

Danny and Edwin have called their project Skate Cape May. They have an informational website, SkateCapeMay.com, detailing their trip, highlighting their sponsors, and providing an opportunity to donate online.

With his iPhone handy, Edwin is blasting updates on Twitter about his and his buddy's progress.

They've only just started their trip this week, but the idea was conceived in the teens' minds two years ago.

They were already skating all the time in the summer, so they decided they wanted to go somewhere with it and raise money for a cause that had touched each of their lives at some point: Danny has a friend who battled cancer on two different occasions; Edwin's cousin, now cancer free, fought leukemia as a kindergartener.

"Childhood cancer research is severely underfunded," Danny said, which is why the teens wanted to donate money to Alex's Lemonade Stand.

Several businesses have also latched on to the teens' mission and are helping sponsor their journey: Original Skateboards in Newton sponsored skate gear; Rita's Ice is allowing them to set up lemonade stands at several locations; Camelbak company donated hydration backpacks; Smartwater donated water; and hotels even donated overnight stays for the boys as they make their way south.