There is no shortage of negative news out there, especially surrounding the police. But we need the good news, too - and this story will actually give you hope for the future generation that they’re not all irredeemable.
On June 21, a fatal shooting in Arvada, Colorado, resulted in the tragic death of Police Officer Gordon Beesley. Twoelementary school girls heard about the tragedy and wanted to help Beesley’s family, so they gathered a few friends and put together a lemonade stand.
The two best friends, Scarlet Reust and Addyson Elliott, put together a beautiful stand to show their support for the police department and the family of the fallen office. They also made shirts that read: “Lemonade for Gordon Beesley.”
It didn’t take long before customers began to line up, and the girls realized that the community was loving it.
Scarlet’s mother, Ashley Conn, said, "They know police as their heroes and their protectors, and for one of them to pass like that is really just kind of confusing." She added that her daughter asked, "'What if that was my dad? He had kids; like, what if that was my dad?'"
In an interview with the local news station, Scarlet said that they “sold about six jugs of the lemonade. People came and didn’t even want any lemonade but just gave us money. It just grew and grew and grew and grew and grew and grew.”
Scarlet’s mom was “blown away” by the result, explaining that the girls were hopeful they could raise around $500. By the time they were done, they'd raised nearly $2,000 for the Beesley family.
So great to see @ArvadaPolice Chief Strate smile! These girls had a lemonade stand and raised $1850 for fallen Officer Beesley’s family @KDVR @channel2kwgn pic.twitter.com/15TjnYv2nV
— Deborah Takahara (@debtakahara) June 30, 2021
Afterward, each girl presented a $925 check to Arvada Police Chief Link Strate.
"For those two little girls to think of him and to work on that lemonade stand and to give their proceeds to Officer Beesley’s family, will make a statement to this department that I don’t believe I can express," he said.
This was more than just a day of hard work for these two kind young girls.
"We wanted them to feel happy even though they lost a very good family member," Addyson said.
We need more stories like Scarlet's and Addyson's. This is the real America.
