A simple lemonade stand was the talk of the town of Oakville Saturday after a five-year-old boy raised more than $40,000 for the Hospital for Sick Children.
Jack Yeilding greeted more than 1,000 people who came to his Oakville home in support of his 2nd-annual Lemonade Stand for Sick Kids event.
The little boy is a regular patient at the Toronto hospital, suffering from intractable epilepsy -- a type of the disease that is not responsive to typical medication. His treatment at Sick Kids requires him to take 19 pills a day and follow a Ketogenic diet, his mother Jodi Yeilding said.
Last year, Jack decided to sell lemonade to his neighbours to raise money to help children he routinely sees at the hospital. The $41,233 raised Saturday will go towards supporting the Sick Kids Foundation.
"Despite his medical condition, Jack is determined to turn his lemons into lemonade by holding an annual lemonade stand to help his friends at SickKids," said his mom.
The donation includes money raised at a car wash event on May 10 and a lemonade stand at Longo's supermarket on May 3.
Jack's doctors and a number of Sick Kids patients were on hand Saturday to support the boy's efforts, as was Lieutenant Governor David Onley, Argonauts CEO Pinball Clemons, Oakville Mayor Rob Burton and a team of Oakville firefighters.
Aside from lemonade, guests enjoyed pony rides, carnival games, the Home Depot Kids workshop and a fire show by local busker Brant Matthews.
According to a website dedicated to Jack's Lemonade Stand, epilepsy is the most common neurological disorder of children. One out of 100 children have the disease.
