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How Sweet It Is! 6-Year-Old Girl Sells Lemonade to Pay Off Classmates’ Lunch Debts

This article is one in a series at The 74 that profiles the heroes, victories, success stories, and random acts of kindness to be found at schools all across America. Read more of our recent inspiring profiles at The74million.org/series/inspiring.

Amiah Van Hill, a 6-year-old, served up community service along with cups of lemonade.

The second-grader started her summer lemonade stand not to earn a few extra dollars for herself, but as a way to help those at her Hayden, Idaho, elementary school, Hayden Meadows, after her mom, Rachel Van Hill, told her about efforts across the country to erase school lunch debts.

For a 6-year-old, action equals a lemonade stand.

Amiah offered up cups of lemonade — with ice and a lemon slice for added effect, with a bit of help from her younger sister, Aria — and then let visitors know that the refreshing drink came with a request for a donation to help offset student lunch debt at the district’s schools. She even named the stand Lemonade 4 Lunch.

“If it was up to her, she would do the lemonade stand every single day,” Rachel told HuffPost.

To help give the stand a bit of a boost, Rachel started a GoFundMe campaign, with a goal of $23,000 to cover the entire Coeur d’Alene Public School district. The effort is well on its way.

“I wanted to help forgive the outstanding school lunch balance of other families at my school,” her GoFundMe page says. “I would like to help more families and more schools.”

The school recently gave Amiah an award for her effort, along with promoting her location on its Facebook page. Rachel, though, says that more than an award or the money, her daughter has garnered quite an education.

“Watching her get excited and passionate about something that can help so many people and for her to be able to connect with other kids,” she says, “it’s just been really fun to watch.” And to drink in.

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