A little juice can go a long way. Three beaming little girls arrived at the Centre for Child Development Monday morning clutching bags full of money to prove just that.
Aubrey Leeson, 2, Ryley Patterson, 8, and Chloe Gravel-Fallis, 5, together raised more than $800 this summer for the Centre for Child Development at Surrey events with their homemade juice stand.
鈥淚t feels good,鈥� said a proud Ryley. 鈥淣ext time we want to raise money for cancer research.鈥�
The girls had their stand set up at Canada Day, Fusion Festival, all four Movies Under the Stars at Holland Park, as well as the Eat Play Live Well Street Fair.
They sold at least 750 juice boxes for $1 a pop 鈥� all donated by SunRype 鈥� and pulled in exactly $857.
Chloe鈥檚 mom Tracey Gravel said in past years, they鈥檝e sold lemonate but because they were hitting large events this year, she wanted to find a more streamlined way to sell juice.
鈥淲e鈥檝e done lemonade and it鈥檚 a lot of mixing and prepping,鈥� she explained. 鈥淔or a busy event, we weren鈥檛 sure how that would work. So we thought, 鈥榃hy don鈥檛 we look at a local juice company?鈥� The first one we thought of with SunRype鈥� and they were on board right away, they delivered 1,000 juice boxes.鈥�
Then Gravel got to work constructing the juice stand.
After a few visits to Pinterest, she decided to use some pallets and wooden crates to make what looked like a real lemonade stand 鈥� not just a table, like they鈥檇 used in past years.
鈥淚t worked out really well, looks really cute,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 stained it, and my son helped by painting a chalk board on the sign, so we can reuse it.鈥�
This wasn鈥檛 the girl鈥檚 first rodeo.
In fact, they鈥檝e done about eight events previously, by Gravel鈥檚 count, which have benefited such organizations as Surrey Christmas Bureau and Surrey Food Bank.
鈥淚t probably started with Ryley when she was around two or three years old,鈥� she said.
Ryley and Aubrey are great nieces of Downtown Surrey BIA manager Bonnie Burnside, and Ryley began going to the Christmas Bureau with Burnside.
鈥淪he would take her there to donate toys around Christmastime. When Chloe got to about two, I took her for the first time and she donated toys. Then we started thinking, 鈥榃hat else can we do?鈥� So we put on our first spaghetti dinner and raised more money and more toys for the Christmas Bureau.
鈥淭hey love it,鈥� said Gravel of the fundraising. 鈥淭hey look forward to it. They do a lot of the planning. The event where we recycling car seats, they came up with all of the activities and all of the ideas. They鈥檙e all very outgoing girls and they鈥檙e very passionate about what they鈥檙e doing and they love helping people.鈥�
While Ryley and Aubrey are cousins, Chloe is a close family friend.
They jokingly call each other 鈥渟ister cousins,鈥� said Gravel.
This was Aubrey鈥檚 first year and Gravel said 鈥渟he did wonderful.鈥�
鈥淪he was the juice fetcher,鈥� she laughed, 鈥渁nd the other girls helped make change.鈥�
At the Centre for Child Development Monday, the girls dropped the money off and then, as kids should, got in some precious play time.
Standing beside the playground, Centre for Child Development (CCD) CEO Gerard Bremault said the girls are 鈥渋nspiring.鈥�
鈥淔or me, what鈥檚 interesting about this, what鈥檚 most rewarding about it, is seeing children helping children and making an effort,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always challenging to raise funds in support of charitable causes and for the Centre for Child Development, to have children taking the initiative to reach out to other families, to residents, participants, and say hey, we can support kids together.
鈥淏eing so proactive about it, it鈥檚 role modelling for other kids but it also gives you hope as you look forward.鈥�
He said national trends are showing a dip in charitable giving, but seeing the efforts of these young girls 鈥済ives me hope for the future.鈥�
Bremault said the CCD helped 2,700 children last year, and another 200 came through Sophie鈥檚 Place, who have been abused.
But there are many more children who need help, he stressed.
鈥淭here鈥檚 27,000 children with a disability of any type in the South Fraser region. And, recent data came out form the World Health Organization and others indicating that sadly, the number of children who are abused is about 30 times more than what鈥檚 reported鈥�.. There鈥檚 an enormous need.鈥�
He praised the girls鈥� spirit, and said they are 鈥渢hey鈥檙e real role models for families overall about what we can do to help our neighbours.鈥�
For more information about the CCD, or to donate, visit
