Sisters Donate Earnings from Lemonade Stand to Challenger Center

October 15, 2020 – Sometimes, the best surprises come in the smallest packages. Five and three-year-old vibrant sisters, Ava and Isabel Iten, recently hosted a lemonade stand in their hometown of Gainesville, Virginia and were kind enough to donate more than $100 from their profits to Challenger Center.

“Ava got the idea from Daniel Tiger (a children’s program on PBS) and asked if we could open a lemonade stand

ourselves. We recently moved into our neighborhood and it seemed like a safe, socially-distant way to meet some of our new neighbors, so as summer was winding down, we thought it’d be a fun thing to do one day,” said Laine Iten, Ava’s and Isabel’s mom.

The girls sold lemonade, iced tea, and cookies and had about 50 people stop by their stand throughout the day.

“We had our babysitter Peighton, Nanny, Grandpa, and even a chihuahua wearing a dress come to our booth!” exclaimed Isabel.

Laine works in fundraising and development and says philanthropy is important to their family. She encouraged the girls to donate half of their earnings to a charity of their choice.

“I thought this would be a good place to start with teaching them the idea of sharing with the community and supporting a worthy cause,” said Laine.

Ava and Isabel are both big astronomy fans and for being just five and three, they know a great deal about space. In fact, they love to stargaze and have seen craters on the Moon using their telescope. They love watching astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley perform experiments aboard the International Space Station. Their love for learning about space and proximity to Challenger Center’s headquarters in Washington, DC led them to donate to Challenger Center.

“We want to help other kids learn about space too,” said Isabel.

When asked if they’d like to be astronauts someday, Ava said, “It’s pretty high up there and there’s no air. Right now, I want to be a ballerina, princess, ice skater.”

Astronauts or not, one thing is for certain, Ava and Isabel have a very bright future ahead of them.