Girl gives cop lemonade every week until dad follows him and sees why. It was a simple lemonade stand, something many other children had done before. But what happened to her was something no one expected. She became nervous. She saw the officer approach her and her family, but she had no idea why he was there. They weren’t even at home, and yet he had found them.
Then, as he went back to retrieve something from his patrol car, she wondered what was going on. But as he got closer and she realized what was in his hands, it all started to dawn on her, and she had no idea how to respond. Before this happened, Melissa Garzar hadn’t interacted much with the police. She, her husband, and her two children live in Lake County, Ohio. It’s a good, safe place to raise a family, but she never really crossed paths with law enforcement.
But that all changed when her nine year old daughter Gabrielle decided she wanted an electronic tablet. The family didn’t have a lot of spending money, so the little girl got a tried and true idea to make some cash. Gabrielle decided she wanted to set up a lemonade stand. Her parents were skeptical at first, but then came around to the idea, thinking it would help their daughter learn the value of money.
The only problem was that their house was in a secluded area without a lot of foot traffic. There was no way she was going to make money if she set up in the stand in her own driveway. But there was an alternative. Gabrielle’s grandmother lives in a condo close to town. The area has a lot of foot traffic and is near many main roads, making it the perfect spot to set up a street stand. The little girl got to work building the stand from supplies she found at home and carefully making a few jugs of lemonade.
Soon, her grandmother’s neighbors got wind of her stand and went shopping for some lemonade. Then a car stopped out front. But it wasn’t any old car. The car that stopped was a patrol car, and an officer soon stepped out and walked toward Gabrielle’s stand. Melissa got nervous because they didn’t have a street vending permit. She breathed a sigh of relief when.
The cop ask Gabrielle, how much for a couple lemonade? Though the cost was $50, the officer paid $3. He even told the young girl he’d tell the other cops about her stand, and he kept his promise. A few hours later, another patrol car stopped by. Gambria ran up to the window and asked the cop if he’d like to buy some lemonade. The officer said yes and stepped out of the car. It was 22 year old sheriff’s deputy Zach ROPOS. He started chatting with Gabrielle. I asked her what she wanted to do with the money, he recalls.
She said she would get an iPad to help with school and play games. Officer robot was touched by the girls work ethic and wanted to help. However, some cops may not have felt the same way. Melissa was becoming edgy with all the officers attention on her little girl’s lemonade stand. It was a harmless way for a kid to make money, but she’d heard stories of law enforcement coming down hard on unlicensed vendors, and one five year old girl had even been given a $200 fine for running a lemonade stand. When Officer ROPOS approached Melissa again, she immediately thought that there had been complaints about her child’s lemonade stand.
She braced herself for the blow and thought carefully about how she was going to break the news to Gabrielle. She hoped with all her heart that there was no fine involved because she had no money to pay for it. But the words that came out of office of Ropos’mouth were completely unprecedented. The next day, the garage were at their local high school, watching Gabrielle’s older brother play football. Then they saw the patrol car pull up. When the police officers stepped out, they recognized him. It was Officer ROPOS.
Then he reached inside his car and pulled something out. Gabrielle couldn’t believe her eyes. Inside the bag was a brand new tablet, which Officer ROPOS had bought it best by the day before. When she told me she gave money to her mom, that’s when I almost started crying because of how great a kid she really was, he explained, adding he didn’t mind spending his money on the gift. People have helped me out in life, so it was a kind of a pay it forward type thing. Melissa had been taken aback when they. Had approached her the day before about.
The gift, and now she was filled with gratitude. The kindness of people, it gets me every single time, said Melissa about what Officer Ropost did that day. I told him, I just need you. To know that you’ve given this gift. To a really awesome girl. She’s got a huge heart. Officer ROPOS agreed and wanted to make sure Gabrielle knew how much he respected her diligence. I talked to the little girl, gave her a speech about how courageous and admirable I think her efforts were to save up money, said Officer ROPOS.
Melissa took a few pictures of the moment Gabriel received the iPad from the deputy, which the Lake County Sheriff’s Department later posted on Facebook. The images went viral. The post on the sheriff’s department’s Facebook page has been shared more than 340 times and received almost 100 comments. Officer Ropost and the Garage were contacted by various media outlets, including Yahoo. News and Today.com to talk about the heartwarming story.
But the deputy doesn’t understand why such a simple act is getting so much attention. I really didn’t want all the media attention, said Officer ROPOS. I just wanted to see the smile on a little girl’s face, and that was worth a million dollars to me. So that’s why I did it. He also mentioned that he’s not the only one in his department who has done something kind for the people in his community.
Officer ROPOS said a lieutenant from the sheriff’s department donated $200 to a family in need, while two other deputies bought a bike for a young boy who didn’t have a way to get to soccer practice. That’s how it is at Lake County. Everyone caring here, he said. We all give our shirt off our back for people. Readers shared their thoughts on the touching story on Facebook. Outstanding compassion by this dedicated officer.
More of these thoughtful stories should be circulated. Well done, one reader commented. May God bless this officer for being so kind to this little girl. Another user wrote. Thank you for Officer Ropost service and the police department. People’s kindness always make the difference. There’s been a rash of incidents in the news about nosy white people summoning their powers of the state to stop black people from doing everyday activities.
One of the most notorious was Permit Patty, a woman who called the police on a young black girl who was selling bottled water on a San Francisco sidewalk. Seven year old twin entrepreneurs Kamari and Khmer from Savannah, Georgia, had the legality of their lemonade stand questioned by a white woman on social media after a photo was posted of their new business. Instead of celebrating two children with entrepreneurial spirit, she attempted to question the viability of their business.
A lady came in and she was like, I bet they don’t have a license. And other people were like, how do you know that? And she was like, I seriously doubted the girl’s, father Quentin lawyer said. Lawyer believes that the woman’s comments was an example of blatant racism. I didn’t even comment back to her, he said.
What she tried to do, it caused the opposite, really. She helped us more than she heard us. So instead of closing up shop, a friend of the family helped the twins apply for a business license from the city so they can sell their lemonade without facing any harassment from law enforcement or nosy white people. Now their business, Twin Monade, is fully licensed in the city of Savannah, and they’ve expanded their menu to include more flavors.
Our flavors are Strawberry Kiwi, Blue, Raspberry, Cotton Candy, Coconut, Banana, Kamari said. Over just a few months, they made over $5,000. That’s the whole purpose of it, lawyer said, to create generational wealth. On June, they had a line down the block, and it was an hour wait for the lemonade. We’re talking today about it being June 8 and ways to support black businesses, customer Amy Baxter told CBS News. So we thought this was the business that we wanted to make sure we supported.
Today, the girl’s mother, Sharice Anderson, hopes this is just the beginning of something much greater. It’s really great, and we’re just looking to just push it forward, Anderson said on a deeper level, it’s a little ridiculous that young children should have to get permission from the state or city just to serve up a cold glass of lemonade to a thirsty customer. Lemonade never killed anybody, and anybody who. Stops by to pick up a cold.
Glass understands the risk they may be taking. If your little lemonade tycoon is having trouble with the law, check out Country Times Lemonade’s legal aid campaign, in which they help kids obtain permits for lemonade stands. The Lemonade mogul will also reimburse fines of up to $300 for kids who get caught running a lemonade operation without a permit. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it.
We raise our glasses of lemonade to all the kids out there keeping the age old tradition of selling this refreshing summer staple alive. Not only does receiving acts of kindness boost mood and reduces our physiological stress response, but meets our basic human needs to feel secure. Because humans are social animals, we have a basic need to feel like others will be responsive in times of need. When people are kind to us, they reassure us that someone will be there if we need it.
Such acts of kindness then provide a foundation for the sense of security. When our need to feel secure is met, we not only feel better and experience better psychological wellbeing, but we’re also able to pursue other important goals with confidence. Helping other people boost psychological well being.
