A Stand Host Experience: The Bartos Family

Sometimes as parents it is easier to say “no” than to give in to our children’s desires and silly requests. For two years, my husband Peter and I took the easy route and redirected our son’s resilient requests to hold a lemonade stand by telling him it was “too hot out” or “no one would come.” Despite our consistent “today is not a good day” answers, our son P.J. would load up the cooler with pitchers and cups and pretend he was holding a stand to help “the sick kids” he saw on TV. Then, while on vacation in January we enjoyed a bottle of Alex’s Lemonade and knew it was a sign that it was time to give in and help P.J. organize a stand. We are so glad we did. Hosting an ALS was a lesson-filled experience for our whole family. It was simple and a wonderful way to engage children in philanthropy.

Thanks to the ALSF and to Alex's vision, 5-year-old P.J. learned so many wonderful lessons as host of his first Alex's Lemonade Stand. He is a fantastic marketer! P.J. gave fliers to everyone he saw - from the local Safeway staff to neighbors, and even the baristas at Starbucks! We saw first hand his dedication at work. P.J. picked lemons, squeezed them and staffed his stand until the very end! He did not complain or whine -but kept going. He did this not because we told him to, but because the stand was his idea! And the most character building moment for P.J. was when a reporter asked him what he was going to do with all the money he raised and his response was: "I am going to send it to the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. They know what to do with it. They will give it to help the kids with cancer and their families."

While fundraising and altruism are in our family genes, it was still so inspiring for us to watch little P.J. make a big difference...that resulted in $1,229 in donations!

Thanks to super TV and print publicity, P.J. received letters and contribution checks from several nearby senior citizens who could not make the drive out to enjoy a cup. One letter was from an 84-year-old man who praised P.J. for his good deeds with the most thoughtful and beautiful sentiments. This letter, along with the memories of P.J.’s first ALS, will be cherished by our family forever.

Thank you to Mr. & Mrs. Scott for giving children like P.J. the opportunity celebrate Alex’s life and in P.J.'s words, "to help kids with cancer feel better."

P.J. has already announced that next President's Day he is going to host another stand!

Hopefully, we will have mastered the recipe for fresh squeezed lemonade by then!

-Donna Bartos

The Importance of Educational Childhood Cancer Resources

When our daughter Alex was first diagnosed with neuroblastoma, we had so many questions – What is neuroblastoma? Is it cancer? How is it treated? What will the treatment be like? The thoughts and questions that went through our minds were overwhelming and scary.

After asking Alex’s oncologist numerous questions, our next step was to search for information on the internet, in medical journals and medical textbooks. We quickly learned that there were endless sources of information on childhood cancer and neuroblastoma, but it was extremely difficult and time consuming to weed through. It was our first experience with the many frustrations and challenges that we faced throughout the course of Alex’s treatment.

Those initial difficulties were quickly replaced by our frustration with facing several differing opinions on the best course of treatment; the challenge of traveling out of state for access to the latest treatments; the frustration of negotiating through the medical system of co-pays and “not covered” expenses; and ultimately our greatest frustration and challenge over our inability to find a treatment that would cure Alex.

When Alex started her lemonade stand, that frustration was very much on our minds, but for Alex, her lemonade stands were the fulfillment of a simple wish to help kids with cancer. Those early efforts quickly transformed into an initiative toward finding new cures and better treatments for all children with cancer. As Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has grown from the front yard to a national foundation, we have committed ourselves to looking toward filling the gaps in funding, designing our medical and nursing grants programs to fill those gaps. However, we also recognize that in addition to these gaps in research funding, there are some very large holes in the information and resources that families of children with cancer have at their fingertips.

So, we knew we had to do something to help parents and families as they enter the battle against childhood cancer. We need to provide those around childhood cancer with an understanding of what they are fighting. In that light, we have launched a brand new Childhood Cancer Center at www.AlexsLemonade.org/resources/cancer-center to sort through the abundance of information out there. Separated into three categories, Parents, Teens and Kids; our Childhood Cancer Center aims to answer the frequently asked questions that we all have about the disease.

As an idea of just what is being offered, all three sections explain the various types of childhood cancers, treatments, dealing with feelings, diagnostic tests and body basics on an appropriate level for the audience selected. So, whether you are a parent whose child has cancer, or you just want to learn more about the cause you are supporting, this is the place to find those answers!

It is so important for us all to understand childhood cancer, whether we are dealing with it on a personal level, or a more removed one. We are so proud of the new area of our website, and plan to continue updating it. We welcome your comments and feedback, and hope you will take the time to look through the new Childhood Cancer Center.

All the best,

Liz and Jay Scott

Meet Alex

Alexandra "Alex" Scott was born to Jay and Liz Scott in Manchester, Connecticut on January 18, 1996, the second of four children.

Shortly before her first birthday, Alex was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer. On her first birthday, the doctors informed Alex's parents that if she beat her cancer it was doubtful that she would ever walk again. Just two weeks later, Alex slightly moved her leg at her parents' request to kick, the first indication of who she would turn out to be-a determined, courageous, confident and inspiring child with big dreams and big accomplishments.

By her second birthday, Alex was crawling and able to stand up with leg braces. She worked hard to gain strength and to learn how to walk. She appeared to be beating the odds, until the shattering discovery within the next year that her tumors had started growing again. In the year 2000, the day after her fourth birthday, Alex received a stem cell transplant and informed her mother, "When I get out of the hospital I want to have a lemonade stand." She said she wanted to give the money to the doctors to help them find a cure. True to her word, she held her first lemonade stand later that year and raised an amazing $2000 for "her hospital."

While bravely battling her own cancer, Alex continued to hold yearly lemonade stands in her front yard to benefit childhood cancer research. News spread of the remarkable sick child dedicated to helping other sick children. People from all over the world, moved by her story, held their own lemonade stands and donated the proceeds to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.

In August of 2004, Alex passed away at the age of 8, knowing that, with the help of others, she had raised over $1 million to help find a cure for the disease that took her life. Alex's family-including brothers Patrick, Eddie, and Joey and supporters are committed to continuing her inspiring legacy through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.