Little Girl Crowdfunds $15,000 with Lemonade Stand

There are so many people who use the internet for ridiculously awful things. Like the guy who didn't like another guy and so he asked strangers to donate money to him so that he could quit his job and follow around his foe to harass him. This isn't one of those stories.

In March of 2013, 10-year-old Alyssa De La Sala's Florida home burned down and needed to be completely rebuilt. Alyssa wanted to do something to help, so along with her brother,  she set up a lemonade stand to help raise money for her parents.  But this isn't your average lemonade stand.

Alyssa knew she needed to get the word out if anyone was going to visit her stand, so she reached out to a radio station and asked them for help. Not only did the station read Alyssa's letter to their listeners, but they also passed her story to the local TV station and things took on a life of their own from there. By the time Alyssa set up her lemonade stand, hundreds of people were lined up and ready to show their support by purchasing a cup along with some homemade treats. There were so many people that the police had to show up to help direct traffic.

Someone even donated $1,000 for a glass of lemonade and get this- local police reached out to the business community who in turn delivered thousands of dollars in donated supplies. The fire and medical teams who responded to the blaze also showed up to give their support.

Between Alyssa's lemonade stand and the GoFundMe page that her family set up, this amazing little girl has raised in excess of $15,000 to help her family.

We've all heard the saying "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade." That's exactly what Alyssa has done. And I can't help but smile knowing complete strangers have shown support to this girl and her family. She will carry this kindness with her through her whole life and there's no doubt in my mind that she'll never forget to pay it forward whenever she gets the chance.