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Children's lemonade stand robbed, community comes to the rescue.
Last August, Rebecca Caldwell, 10 and her little brother Josh, 8 were selling lemonade in front of their Chesapeake, Virginia home, when a young man approached.
He seized their money jar, ran to his car and drove off. In tears, Rebecca and Josh ran into the house to tell their mother Annetta.
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"I was shocked and a little mad at the man," Rebecca told The Washington Post. "I felt angry," added Josh. The jar held about $40, the children had earned.
When the police arrived, Annetta showed them their surveillance camera footage of the man stealing the money and driving off in a silver Toyota.
To put the theft behind them, she and her husband encouraged the kids to reopen their lemonade stand, which they did.
Meanwhile, the local news media covered this event and numerous sympathetic customers came to buy lemonade.
One of those customers was Andrew Reyes, a father of two, and a member of the 757 Bike Meet-Up & Ride.
"One thing in the motorcycle community is you don't mess with kids,`" said Andrew. He posted on the biker Facebook page and over 130 bikers arrived at the lemonade stand.
That day, Annetta estimated that about 650 people came, among them family and friends, police and firefighters, and city council members.
"Everybody just gave," said neighbor Randy Watson. "It wasn't about getting lemonade. It was about restoring those little kids' hope."
As for the thief, police arrested a man 19, and charged him with petty larceny.
"We don't know what was going on with him that caused him to do that," Annetta said. "The big lesson with this is that we forgive."
Editor's Note:
To learn more washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2024/08/29/lemonade-stand-theft-caldwell-virginia/ and facebook.com/watch/?v=2233977030301719.
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