The story of a Maple Ridge boy who set up a lemonade stand to help pay for his best friend’s surgery has become a viral sensation, with media as prominent as The Ellen Degeneres Show and as far-flung as Australia picking up on the inspiring story.
As of Wednesday afternoon, seven-year-old Quinn Callander’s lemonade stand and its companion online campaign had raised more than $55,000 to pay for surgery for his best friend Brayden Grozdanich, who has cerebral palsy.
Since the story was first reported last week, the Callander family has been inundated with calls about Quinn. The fundraising campaign has been shared 2,300 times on Facebook, and more than 1,500 people showed up in person at the lemonade stand on Sunday.
Grozdanich’s operation costs roughly $15,000, not including the cost of ongoing physical therapy or travel to New Jersey, where the procedure will be done. The less-invasive surgery that the Grozdanich family wants is not available in Canada.
The online campaign had already raised enough money to cover the cost of the operation by the time the lemonade stand opened on Sunday. The additional money raised will cover the travel and therapy costs.
On Sunday, Callander told CTV News that he decided to help Grozdanich after watching the tough exercises his friend has to do regularly.
“After I watched one of his physiotherapy things and I saw how hard it was for him, I asked my mommy and daddy if I could build a lemonade stand to raise money,” he said.
Few could have expected he would be as successful as he has been.
