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Cottage Grove kids raise money with lemonade stand for neighbors who lost home to fire
COTTAGE GROVE, Minn. — There are few things better to beat the summer heat than a lemonade stand.
“The lemonade is 75 cents,” Brady Steffes said, standing in front of the stand he and his friends started in their neighborhood in Cottage Grove.
For Steffes and his friends, business has been booming – and if you ask them, this stand isn’t about making money for themselves.
“I thought it would be like maybe one, two hundred bucks,” he said. “Our goal was $250 at the start.”
It’s about helping others – especially their neighbors.
“Just a few dollars here and a few dollars there can have a really big impact,” Steffes said.
The reason for their stand happens to live two doors down – Lionel Njitor and his family are now picking up their lives after a fire Sunday destroyed their home.
“She was like whoa, smoke is kind of, you know, there’s a fire in the garage,” Njitor said, talking about the text he got from his wife on Sunday.
Seeing that was hard for the neighborhood kids – so they brainstormed, and approached Njitor with an idea.
“I was speechless when they came up to me, and they said this is what we want to do for you,” he said. “I kinda, like, was really running out of words. I was like, just, you guys are gonna make me cry.”
In just a day and a half, the kids have raised much more than what they expected to.
“Going way over, some people are paying $100 just for that lemonade,” Steffes said. “And we raised about $4,000.”
“Few people even left $100 tips, whole neighborhood pitched in to help,” Steffes added.
It’s a long road to get back on their feet for Njitor and his family, but with neighbors like this – that’s much easier.
“I mean, I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done so far,” Njitor said.
MINNEAPOLIS — How much do you know about your grandma’s upbringing?
“The Stories From My Grandmother’s Hands” is a book that aims to show young Black children how their grandmas lived through beautiful illustrations and descriptions.
KARE 11 News at Noon shared more on Thursday about the impact that this book will have.
Gary Peterson and his friends are collecting donations to help people in their community.
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — A St. Louis Park pumpkin display is raising money for their local food shelf.
Gary Peterson started carving and painting three pumpkins over a decade ago. It’s now grown to over 100.
“I’ve heard people say they’ve come from Hutchinson,” he said.
Peterson along with two of his neighbors have spent the last 14 years growing their display, turning it into a neighborhood event.
“It’s been incredible, I just can’t believe how much this has expanded,” he said. “We did it just because we like to and then people were asking to give us money to cover the cost.”
The trio refused to take people’s money, but then one of them had an idea.
“My neighbor, Steve Leensvaart, just mentioned how about we just do it for the STEP program and the STEP program is our local food shelf in St. Louis Park,” he said.
So, they started to collect donations to help families in need. They’ve raised hundreds of dollars and donated hundreds of pounds of food over the last few years, carving for a cause.
“It is more gratifying every year,” Peterson said.
He estimated they have over 100 unique pumpkins in their yard. They’ve created the displays and come up with new family-friendly concepts for people to enjoy. Peterson said about 30 of their neighbors carved their own pumpkins to be put on display, and it’s been a big hit.
“It’s great. In the last couple of years, it’s turned into more of a neighborhood event,” said Sarah Durch.
“We love this Halloween display, we come every year to see it. We love that the whole community gets involved to craft and carve the pumpkins,” said Jami Gordon-Smith.
“The shading and the details are unbelievable,” said Elizabeth Hanson.
Hanson hopes to take her 2-year-old son trick or treating for the first time but is worried the cold temperatures might keep them indoors.
“We’re going trick or treating hopefully,” she said. “He’s going to be a firefighter, but we’re probably going to have sweatshirts maybe like two pairs of sweatpants underneath. We’re going to be bundled up.”
Gordon-Smith said her family will be out Halloween night no matter the weather.
“Halloween only comes once a year, so you really have to take advantage and enjoy the evening no matter what the weather brings,” she said. “Guess it’s not totally unheard of in Minnesota to have a cold Halloween, but we are going to try and modify and do a lot of layers underneath our costumes and then we might add some hats and maybe some warmer socks.”
Durch also isn’t surprised they’re in for another chilly night.
“Well, what would Halloween be without Minnesota cold? I feel like every time you plan a costume you have to plan for how you can make this work if it’s snowing,” she said.
Peterson said they will have a bonfire and some hot chocolate and cider on Halloween to keep trick-or-treaters warm while they look at their pumpkins.
Click here to learn where you can see the pumpkins and how you can donate.
Jeremy Jourdain was 17 when he was last seen on Halloween 2016.
BEMIDJI, Minn. — The search for Jeremy Jourdain, who was last seen on Halloween in 2016, continues now eight years later.
Jourdain was last seen at a family member’s house in Bemidji, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. He left the residence near the 500 block of Wood Avenue after midnight and while people followed him, no one was able to find him.
Jourdain was 17 at the time.
Officials said he was wearing a blue and grey sweatshirt, and blue jeans when last seen. He is Native American and is described as 6 foot 5 and 175 pounds.
If you have any information on his whereabouts, you can contact the Bemidji Police Department at (218) 333-9111. Tips can also be sent to 1-833-560-2065, or you can email ojs_mmu@bia.gov.
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