It could be said June was a very good month to run a lemonade stand.
The hot and muggy month featured five days in a row, June 22-26, where the high temperature was 91 or higher, the first time that’s happened in 31 years. And it got down to only 74 on June 24, setting a new record for the highest low temperature ever on that date, according to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.
So that may have helped the Pine-based nonprofit 412 Gives Back soar past the $10,000 it hoped to raise from lemonade stands in June to benefit One Day to Remember, a Pittsburgh organization that seeks to give an enjoyable day to families where a parent is battling advanced-stage cancer.
The grand total from 27 stands came to $16,465, said Laura Lawler, a member of 412 Gives Back. The group already had raised $12,000 from the stands going into June 30, when the final day saw eight stands set up.
“We’re blown away by the support of the community,” Lawler said. “We feel like it’s taken off, which is really exciting.”
In addition to proceeds from its lemonade stands, One Day to Remember will be the beneficiary of all of 412 Gives Back’s fundraising efforts throughout the year, culminating in its gala in January. The total is projected to come to $200,000, Lawler said.
It’s the most substantial partnership One Day to Remember has had in its history, said Rachel Antin of Squirrel Hill, a former oncology nurse who founded it in 2016.
“The support of 412 Gives Back is an unbelievable gift to us as a small organization,” Antin said. “It truly means the world to us. Not only are they raising essential funds for our organization, but they’re also raising awareness, which is so important.”
This was the third year for 412 Gives Back’s lemonade stands. Make-A-Wish was the beneficiary the first two years, with $3,700 raised from seven stands on one day in 2023 and $9,500 from 17 stands in 2024, Lawler said. In total, 412 Gives Back donated $90,000 to Make-A-Wish in 2023 and $170,000 in 2024.
Wanting to pick a new local charity to help each year, One Day to Remember caught their eyes, Lawler said.
“We liked her story of helping families,” she said. “As parents of young children ourselves, that’s something we connected with.”
Kenneth Higgins, 11, of Pine was among kids flagging down passing drivers and fulfilling orders at the stand that was set up June 30 along Village Club Drive in Pine.
“It’s helping kids and their parents who don’t have a lot of money,” he said. “It’s helping a lot of people.”
With the average cost of an outing at $2,500, the $200,000 that 412 Gives Back expects to raise for One Day to Remember could pay for 80 outings.
One Day to Remember held its 500th outing in February. It did about 169 outings in 2024 and had done 115 through the end of June this year, with 80 more scheduled.
Antin said she wanted to create an organization for families who were going through cancer and navigating the disease’s financial toll.
“There were no available resources that were cost-free for families. When you get diagnosed with cancer, it really takes away your financial stability. It affects you physically, it affects you mentally,” Antin said. “Our families have terminal cancer. Time is limited. If we can give them a day off where they can just be a family and enjoy each other and not think about cancer and bring a light into their life, that’s what we want to do.”
Billie Higgins and Amy Fleming, both of Pine and members of a moms club, formed 412 Gives Back in 2023. It is headed by a 10-member committee who are all moms.
After being disappointed by a charity event they had attended, Higgins said they got started by selling tickets to a holiday party and giving proceeds to a charity.
With no long-term plan for the organization, Higgins said they’re taking everything as it comes.
“We’re naturally growing as more and more people become aware of us,” Higgins said. “We’ve been taking this one year at a time, one beneficiary at a time. We didn’t plan to do any of this. It just sort of happened, and we go along with it.”