Missouri Boy Opens Lemonade Stand to Pay for his Adoption

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — (WUSA9) Third-grader Tristan Jacobson sat patiently Friday afternoon, waiting for his next thirsty customer. For a dollar, the 9-year-old would happily crack open an ice-cold bottle of water, pour in a tiny packet of lemonade powder and shake.

And that dollar, he said, will go toward paying legal fees so Tristan can be adopted.

"She will be my parent," he said, motioning to Donnie Davis, who was watching from the front porch. "I'm happy because I have a new mom who loves me."

Tristan attends Williams Elementary School and said he's having no trouble keeping track of money and making proper change for his customers.

Math, after all, is his favorite subject.

"I'm in fractions now," he said proudly. "It's easy for me."

Davis is hosting a yard sale Saturday at their home in north Springfield, where Tristan and his lemonade stand will be set up in the yard.

Davis said she and her husband, Jimmy, have been Tristan's kinship guardians since the boy was 5.

They hope to raise about $5,000 for legal and adoption fees. The yard sale and Tristan's lemonade stand will help.

"It means everything. He is absolutely our son. He is in our hearts," she said. "This is more for reassurance for him, knowing that he has his forever family and he has our name."

Tristan has participated in Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks for more than two years.

Program Director Chelsea Dykman is in regular contact with the Davis family and Tristan.

"(Donnie Davis) is great. She came in hoping to get him more positive people in his life," Dykman said.

Dykman went on to explain how Tristan came to be part of the Davis family.

When Tristan was 4, his biological mom briefly had custody, but things didn't work out, Donnie said. At age 5, Tristan was placed with Donnie as a kinship guardian.

The Davis family yard sale will continue through 4 p.m. Saturday, though Tristan said he wants to sell lemonade till 8 p.m.

The family has a fundraising page on youcaring.com. Search for "Tristan's Adoption Fund."