Talk of the Town: When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade: (Lemonade) Stand up to Cancer

BY: ZOE HORT

Daniel Bean is an eighth-grader at Fieldston Middle School. He does an annual non-profit organization called “Alex’s Lemonade Stand” each year, to help find a cure for cancer around the world.

“It might have just been a lemonade stand. But to me, for Alex, it was so much more.” Daniel Bean, an eighth-grader at Fieldston Middle School, was only two years old when he participated in his first “Alex’s Lemonade Stand.” Started by Alexandra Scott, a four-year-old who had been diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer, Alex’s Lemonade Stands raise money to find a cure for cancer all around the world. Alex was able to do yearly lemonade stands while still fighting with her cancer treatments, but at the devastatingly young age of only eight years old, she lost her fight to cancer. Alex’s story was spoken about so much that she was featured on the Oprah Winfrey show and in newspapers, which is where the Bean family first heard about the lemonade stand and knew they wanted to participate and help fight cancer.

The stand only happens once a year, so Daniel and his family put a lot of dedication to making that day constructive. First, the day before, they spend the whole day preparing: pink and yellow lemonade, Arnold Palmers, brownies, different cookies, oreo cheesecake bars, and lemon bars. There is no specific reason for these foods, and each year, they like to switch it up to prepare different foods and beverages.

On the day of the lemonade stand, Daniel and his family stand on the corner of 83rd and Madison Avenue with their refreshments. When he was younger, Daniel used to scream “Alex’s lemonade stand” all day to get people’s attention before anyone knew about it. “At the first lemonade stand, we did not get much attention,” Daniel stated, “but after a couple of years it started to get better.” He felt he had an advantage living in New York City since there are so many people in one big city. He felt it was very easy to spread the word and get people to become aware and donate to the organization. In fact, his friend actually started their own lemonade stand because they were inspired. On average the lemonade stand makes $1000 per session (although the non-profit also accepts online donations).
Daniel’s “goals in life greatly affected his experience with the stand.” He explained that “staying focused on what I do and being passionate about helping children with cancer” are two of his goals. He described his passion for this organization by saying, “it makes me feel better that I am a part of finding a cure for cancer.”
Daniel was also inspired to be socially active by Liz Scott, who is Alex’s mother and the head of the organization. He stated, “because she has gone through so much, I feel the need to keep persevering for the good cause. It really motivates me.” He also explained how depressing it was sometimes when he felt he could not do anything to help the kids directly. He felt it was “unfair for kids that young have to suffer and not have a life just because of something they were diagnosed with.”

Another big role model in Daniel’s life is his sister. “She was always a big part of the lemonade stand because she took orders, baked the goods, and was always spreading the word and trying to do good for the community.”
Daniel said he considers the lemonade stand a hobby that he would definitely want to continue, even with his own children. He wants to do various events for different charities. The most difficult thing for Daniel is “keeping positive while I know there are people dying because it is inevitable.” He tries to stay happy and positive by surrounding himself with people he loves like friends and family, but he repeatedly mentioned it is hard to stay happy when there were people dying from cancer. His advice to people embarking on similar work is to “do whatever you can because anything helps. Even just being supportive helps.” Even though Daniel was speaking through Zoom, it was exceedingly clear how impassioned he is to help people no matter what the cause. He believes “the lemonade stand is one of the best experiences of my life,” and that there is nothing he would do differently. He finished by saying, “I would not take anything back, because Alex did not have that choice.”

NOTE: 8th graders wrote their own versions of THE NEW YORKER’S Talk of the Town this year.