When 11-year-old Josie Marzorati saw a donation bucket at the South Oakland YMCA for the Strong Kids Campaign, she asked her mom, Katie Rivard, what that meant. Her mom explained that it helped other kids enjoy the Y like their family did.
Josie decided she wanted to help, and after brainstorming a few ideas with her mom, she came up with hosting a lemonade stand, with the proceeds going to the Strong Kids Campaign.
Membership director Jon Otzman agreed to help, and let Josie set up her lemonade stand next to the grill during one of his periodic member appreciation events where he grills hot dogs for the members. Group exercise director Melanie Sevald donated the supplies for the stand. And the members of South Oakland enthusiastically supported Josie in her quest to help the Strong Kids Campaign…she raised $260 that day, and about the same amount at a later one. This spring she hosted another lemonade stand at the South Oakland Y’s Mom-to-Mom Sale and made $92. All told, she’s contributed about $600 to the campaign through her efforts.
“She figured out that through her lemonade stand alone, ten kids can attend one session of class their families might not otherwise be able to afford,” Katie says.
Katie’s proud both of what her daughter has done and grateful for the help she got from the Y staff, who jumped in to make Josie’s vision a reality without giving it a second thought. “If she believes she can change the world, I feel I have a duty to assist her in that,” she says. “The branch has embraced her mission so positively, it really feeds into that notion that she’s got the power in her, that she can do things to make the situation better for other people.”
Josie even spoke about her lemonade stand in front of a few hundred adults at South Oakland’s Power of the Y luncheon.
Katie herself helps out a lot at the Y, contributing to the branch’s Facebook page as well as lending a hand in other ways. It’s been a wonderful place for her family to be, she says.
“The Y for us is a place where we have all found ways to strengthen ourselves,” says Katie. “When we joined I was in the grip of a pretty big depression, because I’d been diagnosed with a chronic disease… Between that and the depression I knew I needed to do something to keep myself strong. Josie has found her way to better the world, and because of Childwatch and all of their community interaction my (twin 3 and a half year old) sons are prepared for school.”