A pair of young sisters turned a summer afternoon into a heartfelt fundraiser, raising $2,460 for CancerCare Manitoba Foundation through their first-ever Lemonade Stand for Hope.
Hailey, 12, and Raya, 9, hosted the stand on July 18 with encouragement from their grandmother, Susan Bauernhuber, who offered to match any funds raised in honour of her late husband.
“It was important to us to have a lemonade stand and raise money for CancerCare Manitoba because our grandpa had cancer,” said Hailey. “It feels good to do this and we are proud of ourselves.”
The sisters exceeded their $1,000 goal by selling 120 cups of lemonade, each served with a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie for the first 66 customers. Their grandmother, who supplied the cookies, said she couldn’t be prouder.
“It meant a lot to me that they agreed to do this,” said Bauernhuber. “I am so proud of how they handled everything.”
Bauernhuber’s husband, Phillip, passed away in October 2021 after being diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, just four months earlier. He received care at Winnipeg’s CancerCare facility.
“He was a very friendly, very community-minded person,” she said. “He loved his family, his grandkids, and he was always there whenever anyone needed help. The healthcare workers at CancerCare were just super through it all — they made a hard experience better.”
With $1,230 raised and her grandmother’s match doubling the amount, Hailey and Raya plan to make the Lemonade Stand for Hope an annual event.
“It makes me so happy to hear they want to continue to do this,” Bauernhuber said. “However, I am not going to make a promise to match however much they raise.”
