Brook and Jordan Garcia, 5-year-old twins from North Riverside, braved the heavy rains of late June to raise money to buy crayons and coloring books for patients in the children’s cancer unit at Loyola University Medical Center.
It was the second year running that Brook and Jordan set up their lemonade stand, where they served up individual bottles of water along with the customer’s choice of flavor packet.
They were inspired to create the fundraiser in July 2020 after the death of their great uncle, Robert Sajdak, from cancer. Sajdak’s wife, Becky, organized her own fundraiser at her late husband’s request to donate Warmies, stuffed animals that provide comfort to children undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Warmies matched any donations she received and she was able to donate several boxes of the stuffed animals to the hospital.
“My twins and myself wanted to do something equally as powerful as well and decided to do the lemonade stand,” said Jamie Mann, the twins’ mother, in an email.
The lemonade stand fundraiser, operating between storms on the weekend of June 26-28, raised enough money to buy 40 boxes of crayons and 40 coloring books to donate, according to Mann.
