Sonoma lemonade stand helps and serves hurricane victims

When two local third graders got the idea to set up a lemonade stand to raise money for families displaced by the recent string of hurricanes, little did they know that some of their first customers would be the very people they were hoping to help.

Sofia Sotomayor, left, and Charly Newman set up a lemonade stand on the morning of Sept. 17. The two are classmates at Presentation School.

Their very first customers were a family from Houston.

“They were very touched by our efforts,” said Sofia’s mom Fabiola Sotomayor. She explained that they came to California to be with friends as their house was damaged.

A few minutes later, two women came by who had traveled to Sonoma from Florida.

“They still have no power and they experienced flooding,” explained Sotomayor, who said that the two women were also staying locally with friends.

“One woman shared how she doesn’t know how things are going to get better and was very touched,” said Sotomayor. “She seemed exhausted.”

Sotomayor said that the girls also met families from North Carolina and Key West.

“The girls experienced gratitude, giving, resilience and humility,” she said. “They worked hard and raised $340 for the Red Cross.”