Pair of local families join the fight against cancer with lemonade stand

The young sparkplugs of this effort, Michael Avila, and Jocelyn Flores were undoubtedly on hand for Saturday’s lemonade for cancer event but left the heavy-duty work to their parents and friends. The two youngsters met during their cancer diagnoses and treatment for retinoblastoma, a type of cancer that starts in the retina. Now, with the help of their families, they’re fighting back by funding childhood cancer research.

And with a little help from their friends, they did it the old-fashioned way, with a lemonade stand, which they’ll set up at Michael and mom’s house on Saturday, June 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“It’s gone real well,” said Veronica Araiza who cradled her son Michael while overseeing the lemonade stand. “We’ve had (plenty) of people coming out,” she said. Even members of the Lemoore Volunteer Fire Department dropped by for a glass or two of pink or regular lemonade.

Michael, just two ½ years old, and his mom, Veronica, along with Jocelyn and her mother, Melissa Flores, were on hand Saturday to sell lemonade via the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF), an organization founded by Alex Scott (1996-2004) who at four years old created “Lemonade Days” and watched as it grew to a national event. Held every June, an estimated 10,000 volunteers host over 2,000 lemonade stands around the nation to help make a difference for kids with cancer.

“We found each other on Facebook and became friends,” said Veronica Flores of discovering Jocelyn and her mother. “Our kids are the same age. We decided to partner up to raise money for childhood cancer awareness.”

“Because this diagnosis is rare, we were under the impression he (Michael) was the only one in our county until we met Jocelyn,” said Veronica. Both children went through diagnosis and treatment together.

Since Alex held that first lemonade event, the Foundation bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement, complete with thousands of supporters across the country. To date, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has raised more than $150 million.

Michael and Jocelyn are about the same age, and both have lost an eye to cancer. They hope to raise at least $50, which will fund an hour of research.