Old and New Ways to Help People Through Fundraising

Operating a lemonade stand is pretty much everyone’s first job. It’s where young children learn the value of a dollar, how to make lemonade, how to sell, and how badly lemon juice hurts when it gets in any cuts on your hand. However, according to WSLS, two girls learned another valuable lesson: the importance of being kind.

Sierra Kirkman and her friend decided to set up a lemonade stand to help raise money for her mom, who had just lost her job at a time when 26% of Americans can’t pay their bills on time. Something as drastic as losing your job can have serious financial repercussions, so Kirkman decided to sell lemonade so that her mom could pay those bills.

“They came and gave us money,” said Kirkman, referring to the Greenville Police Office and Fire Department. When an officer noticed the girls on the side of the road selling lemonade, he pulled over and heard their touching story. He then decided to bring more police officers and firefighters to enjoy the summer refreshment as well.

“If they didn’t care they wouldn’t have come out here and like help us and stuff,” Kirkman added. Sierra and her friend raised more than $100 so far.

Selling lemonade is a much more conventional way of raising money than, say, playing a virtual Pokemon game.

But as Mashable reports, a new app called Charity Miles is not only getting smartphone users out of the house and more physically active, it’s also helping them raise money for a good cause. The more a user participates in physical activities, the more money is raised for charity organizations.

The app’s developers are now encouraging Pokemon Go players to play the game while using the Charity Miles app so that all that physical activity does not go to waste.

“We got a big surge of miles over the weekend,” said Gene Gurkoff, founder of Charity Miles, “we couldn’t really understand what was going on.”

Charity Miles rewards one of nearly 40 charities — including DoSomething.org, ASPCA and the World Food Programme — with small amounts of money for every mile of physical activity recorded. Since the recent popularity spike with Pokemon Go, if users combine the two apps, charities could benefit tremendously.

That’s an idea an inspiring individual like Sierra Kirkman can get behind.