TP_060619

tinleyjunction.com life & arts
the Tinley Junction | June 6, 2019 | 17
Girl’s lemonade stand raises big bucks for good causes
Will O’Brien
Freelance Reporter
Most children start a lemonade
stand to buy a toy or a bike.
Kiera Fitzmaurice started hers to
give the proceeds away.
With her sixth annual charity
event approaching, the 9-yearold
Tinley Park resident has
raised more than $5,500 to date
for a variety of causes and is
aiming to make an even bigger
impact.
“I wanted to give something
away but I couldn’t think of
what,” she said, telling the story
of how she came up with the
idea. “I realized I really like lemonade,
and a lot of people like
drinking it on hot days. So I realized
I could sell lemonade and
give the money away.”
And give she has.
The stand — which as usual
will be set up in the Fitzmaurice
driveway at 16906 Sandy Lane
on Saturday, June 15 — has benefitted
a different organization
every year. Kiera’s father, Liam
Fitzmaurice, is a firefighter with
the Tinley Park Fire Department,
so first responder-related causes
are naturally close to the heart.
Beneficiaries to date have
been the Muscular Dystrophy
Association, Illinois Fire Safety
Alliance, American Brain Tumor
Association, Tinley Wish and
Midwest BBQ for the Brave.
This year’s recipient is RE;ACT
4 Ryan, a nonprofit dedicated to
equipping first responders with
mental health counseling and
training.
RE;ACT was started by the
family of Lt. Ryan Elwood, a
former Hometown and North
Palos firefighter who died by
suicide in 2015.
“The devastation from something
like that that’s left behind is
something we don’t want another
family to go through — ever,”
said Katie Elwood, Ryan’s aunt
and president of the organization.
Supporting one another is a
core value of the first responder
Pictured are Kiera and Liam Fitzmaurice outside their home during
the 2018 event. The 9-year-old Tinley Park resident has raised more
than $5,500 for a variety of charitable organizations through her
once-annual lemonade sale in recent years.
community, she and Liam said.
“What we’re doing, what
they’re doing is incredibly typical
of the first responder community,”
Elwood said. “It’s such
a tight network, and once you’re
part of the family, you know they
have your back on everything.”
RE;ACT has raised more than
$100,000, primarily through big
annual fundraisers at 115 Bourbon
Street, which goes toward
hiring counselors for first responders
in need, Elwood said.
This year, the group is switching
gears to a golf outing, set for
Wednesday, Aug. 28, at Silver
Lakes Country Club in Orland
Park.
But overcoming the stigmas
of mental health, especially in
the emergency response profession,
is no easy task, making efforts
like Kiera’s lemonade stand
critically important to keeping the
conversation going, Elwood said.
“We can’t do all the things we
want to do without the ongoing
support of events like this,” she
said.
Kiera’s event has gotten a bit
bigger and a bit more complex
with each passing season.
In addition to the lemonade —
made from the same recipe each
year and still costing just 50 cents
a glass — the event has grown to
include fire trucks, engines and
ambulances from the Tinley department,
as well as a collection
of other custom vehicles. Grilled
meats and other barbecue foods
are part of the mix too.
Lots of fire department personnel
come out to support the
cause, as do neighbors, friends
Kiera Fitzmaurice presents a check to Gayla Smith, president of the
Midwest BBQ for the Brave, which was the beneficiary of Kiera’s
lemonade sale in 2018. Photos submitted
Kiera Fitzmaurice charitable lemonade stand
10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Saturday, June 15
16906 Sandy Lane, Tinley Park
Beneficiary: RE;ACT 4 Ryan (www.react4ryan.com)
from school and others who just
happen to pass by. Visitors are
encouraged to stick around and
socialize.
“It’s definitely become something
that’s more than just a kid’s
lemonade stand,” Liam said.
“It’s starting to feel like a big
block party or community function,
we get so many people out
here.”
The stand will be open from
about 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. As
usual, Kiera’s friends and longtime
lemonade helpers Sophia
and Colin Cescato will be alongside
her at the booth.
Kiera said she plans to keep
the stand going for years into the
future. Giving back feels good,
she said, and the event’s impact
has already made a noticeable
difference.
The year after the stand raised
funds of Tinley Wish, an organization
that supports local
families in need, a man in a truck
stopped by and donated $100
on the spot, Liam said. The man
had been on the receiving end of
Wish’s aid and, back on his feet,
wanted to pay the good deed forward.
“It feels really good because
every time we do it, there’s more
and more people who come,” Kiera
said. “I feel like I want to do
it every day.”