Lemonade stand helps needy
July 23, 2008
By J.B. Wogan
Bobby Nadell, 10, has philanthropy figured out. All it takes is lemonade and cookies.
Nadell, a resident of the Trossachs neighborhood, has spent one day each summer selling refreshments at a lemonade stand, with the proceeds benefiting Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. Union Gospel Mission is a nonprofit organization that helps people reestablish their lives. In addition to a program for aiding the homeless, the mission also works with prisoners, senior citizens and drug addicts.
Nadell raised $202.50 May 31, a leap from the $38 he raised the first time he had the stand as a 7 year old.
“I really like to help people,” he explained.
Each year, Nadell sets up his stand on Trossachs Boulevard, catering to family, friends and neighbors. He and his mother, Kellie, also sell freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
But it’s not the product that brings people back to the stand, year-after-year, Kellie said.
“They’re there to help,” she said.
“We do get kids who really have a heart for helping people, but I don’t think there’s an abundance of it,” said Sharon Thomas-Hearns, director of public relations for Union Gospel Mission.
She said Bobby’s giving spirit at his age is a rarity.
Union Gospel Mission operates on a $14 million budget, according to Thomas-Hearns. Bobby’s donation was one of many accumulated during radio station Spirit 105.3’s “Summer of Hope” telephone call-in drive.
“Mission is funded by thousands of Bobbys,” Thomas-Hearns said, adding the average donations ranged from $25-200.
By its end, the drive had raised about $45,000, with an additional $25,000 in pledges.
Bobby’s original donation sparked a flurry of 16 matching donations amounting to $3,232 in contributions.
“It’s just amazing that he has this outward focus on the world, specifically helping homeless people,” said Thomas-Hearns.
Aside from running the lemonade stand, Bobby is a rising fourth grader at Cascade Ridge Elementary School. He participates in two bowling leagues at Sun Villa Lanes in Bellevue. In the winter, he skis with his parents. His father, Robert, is a veterinarian.
Kellie Nadell said Bobby is motivated in part by the Cub Scout motto: “I promise to do my best to do my duty to God and my country, to help other people, and to obey the law of the pack.”
But then again, he is inclined to give, she said.
“It just comes natural to him,” Kellie said.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
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