Rochester lemonade, popcorn stand raises $1,000 for The Landing MN

(ABC 6 News) – Some children in the Rochester community are making a difference by raising money for a local non-profit by selling lemonade and popcorn.

It’s an annual project for the students at Knowledge Beginnings in Rochester and they look forward to it every summer. The best part is the students have a say in where all of the money raised at the popcorn and lemonade stand goes.

"We sit down and everybody votes on what we’re gonna do like last year we did Paws and Claws and this year we did the Landing," 10-year-old Lilly Cowdan said.

This was the 10th year of the fundraiser and was their biggest sale yet. Not just Lilly Cowdan and her sister Emilie helped run the stand, but about 30 of them helped to raise $1,000. This year, the money going to The Landing MN, a non-profit that helps those facing homelessness in the Rochester community.

"It feels really good," 7-year-old Emilie Cowdan said.

Although The Landing receives lots of community support, co-founder, president and CEO Dan Fifield said this donation was special.

"It’s great for a bunch of young folks to become involved and do something like this and understand why they’re doing it," he said.

Fifield said the money will be a big help with the renovations of the non-profit’s recent move to a new location which is an almost $2.5 million project.

"Every dime, every kernel of popcorn, every sip of lemonade counts," Fifield said.

Lilly Cowdan said their stand even had some returning customers.

"There’s this guy that comes every single year and he donates a lot. This year he and his friends all donated 50s but he donated a one hundred dollar bill," she said.

Lilly said to ‘never underestimate the power of a lemonade stand.’