A nine-year-old boy’s love for cats inspired him to raise nearly $2,000 for the Idaho Humane Society in the US.
Ben Miller operates a lemonade stand for three years in a row, raising $1,950 for his favorite cause.
For this year’s donation, he brought a plastic bag with US$1,150 in cash, based on his previous donations of US$600 in 2021 and US$200 in 2019. He took a break from the project in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Miller’s fundraiser idea started in 2019 when he was visiting the Idaho Humane Society with his grandmother. “I saw that some cats didn’t have toys,” said the young businessman in an interview with CNN.
He had already planned to open a lemonade stand, but decided to donate the proceeds to the shelter so they could buy all the cat toys and other supplies.
According to Ben’s mother, Amy Miller, Ben spent hours selling lemonade — even offering lavender flavor — along with treats like cookies.
The donation will be used for veterinary care, food and other cat supplies, according to the Idaho Humane Society.
“We are in the midst of kitten season,” Kristine Schellhaas, communications manager for the Idaho Humane Society, told CNN.
“We spent a ton of supplies. In a few weeks in the summer, it is not uncommon to adopt between 60 and 90 kittens a week. There is a lot of life-saving care that we do.”
After Ben’s second year running the lemonade stand, the shelter highlighted his efforts on their social media accounts, attracting other animal lovers who sent donations to Ben via Venmo if they couldn’t stop at his lemonade stand.
“Many of our fans were excited that he was giving back,” said Schellhaas.
Miller was “blown away” by the reaction to her son’s initiative. “People traveled for almost an hour, saying they had heard about it on the radio, and it was absolutely incredible,” she said.
“He always had a big heart,” Miller said. “But it really surprised me.”
Schellhaas explained that individual donations like Ben’s are crucial to the shelter’s operations. “A lot of our individual donations add up,” she said. “Every dollar counts.”
“Seeing kids like that is really exciting for us,” he added. “We are very grateful, especially for our youth.”
Ben hopes to continue the tradition next year, his mother said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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