5-year-old boy’s lemonade stand raises thousands for Hawaii wildfire victims

SEATTLE (KING) – Edison is a name that’s synonymous with great ideas, and for one Seattle family, it’s their 5-year-old son that sparked a brilliant plan to help wildfire victims in Hawaii.

Edison Juel and his family were just in Hawaii visiting.

After seeing photos of the destruction, the 5-year-old decided he wanted to help.

“He wanted to sell like a restaurant, but we got him down to lemonade and popsicles,” Ami Juel, Edison’s mother, said.

It turned a teachable moment into something even bigger.

“Well, we were in Hawaii last week on the big island and we heard about the fires in Maui and we had also been in Lahaina back in January,” Ami Juel said. “So, we talked a lot about what was happening and the fires. Then on a family walk on Thursday night, he was like, ‘Mom, maybe we can do one of those stands.’ Took me a minute and he was like, ‘A lemonade stand, you know? And I could sell food and popsicles.’”

Edison guessed around 2,000 people showed up.

“Well, I was hoping he’d make maybe $100 if everything went well, and we were shocked at how generous everybody was,” Ami Juel said.

Everything listed on the menu was priced at $1, but Edison ended up making thousands for the Maui community fund.

“He was pretty pleased about it,” Ami Juel added. “With our matching donations, it becomes $16,500.

Edison starts kindergarten this school year.

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