Grafton girls use lemonade stand to raise money for food pantry, police department K-9 program

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GRAFTON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Kennedy Siewert is no stranger to running a successful lemonade stand.

"Last year, I raised $260 for Family Sharing," Siewert said.

This year, the soon to be fourth grader invited a friend, Addy Town, to join in on the fun. Together, the two girls are hoping to raise hundreds of dollars for Grafton's Family Sharing Food Pantry and the Grafton Police Department's K-9 Foundation.

"We're selling lemonade," Siewert said. "I did it for my birthday and last year, so I've been giving to Family Sharing."

"This year, we saw that the police department was trying to get a new K-9 dog," Town explained. "We wanted to help them out with raising the money."

On Friday, with the help of family and neighbors, the two girls set up a tent and table at the corners of Shasta Ave. and Falls Rd. in Grafton and began offering regular and pink lemonade along with double chocolate, chocolate chip and M&M cookies. The treats were free but donations were encouraged. They also sold window decorations, hand made by Kennedy, for a dollar, with all proceeds benefitting the two organizations.

When asked what made her so passionate about running the lemonade stand, Siewert was quick to answer.

"To see how happy people are to donate money to charities," she said.

Town was quick to echo that excitement.

"I think my favorite part is meeting all the new people, and helping out with the charities," Town said.

After just an hour open, the two girls estimated they'd already given out about sixty cups of lemonade. Several of them went to members of the Grafton Police and Fire departments.

"Having Kennedy and Addy do this for us is just a phenomenal thing," said Police Chief Jeff Caponera. "We're extremely proud to see that our community's involved in this and wanting to get out and help us raise the funds for our K-9 program."

Chief Caponera says the department is close to reaching its $70,000 goal to get the program up and running. He's hopeful the department will have a dog on the force by the end of 2022 or early in 2023.

"We're almost there. We're really close," Chief Caponera said, adding the foundation is about $6,000 shy of its goal. "Every little bit helps."

Every little bit, including close to $400 the two girls are hopeful their stand will raise, sharing a message of thanks to those who have supported their efforts.

"Thank you for your donations," both Kennedy and Addy said. "This will really help with the charities."

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