Kaukauna lemonade stand raises money for school supplies in multiple districts

KAUKAUNA, Wis. (WBAY) - Kimberly, Kaukauna and Little Chute school districts received school supply donations thanks to one mission-filled lemonade stand.

In early August, caretaker Missy Rusk told her kids if they wanted to hold a lemonade stand they could but they couldn’t keep any of the money for themselves.

The group decided together that they would use their profits to purchase and donate school supplies to area schools.

“Their ideas just shocked me. I was like, WOW!,” Rusk said.

When people on Facebook caught wind of the lemonade stand, the donations started piling in.

“A lot of people donated, and a lot of people donated money and school supplies because it was a good cause. They thought that it was really good that we were doing this,” Jakob Bailey, one of Rusk’s grandsons, said.

The kids served lemonade from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., remaining busy the whole time. A glass of lemonade was 50 cents or free with a school supply donation.

In one day, the group raised $567 and acquired two full boxes of roughly $200 worth of school supplies.

The group split it equally three ways and donated it to the Kimberly, Kaukauna and Little Chute school districts.

“They said it is just going to help so many kids, and with the craziness of the world they just don’t know who is going to be coming through the school who may have nothing,” Rusk said.

Holly Magness, the principal for Victor Haen Elementary School, said each year the need for school supply donations becomes greater. 2020 also halted school supply drives, making the need even greater.

“We have a lot of kids in many schools that really need those extra school supplies. They might come with a couple things but they don’t have everything on the list,” Magness said.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, roughly 13% of Wisconsin students are low income and rely on donated services.

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