Lemonade raises funds for Humane Society
By Angie Landsverk
Parker Wilson always wanted to have a lemonade stand.
When a stray kitten showed up at his family’s home, he soon had a reason for one.
He decided to open a lemonade stand and donate all the tips he raised to the Humane Society of Waupaca County.
On Friday, Oct. 21, he donated $75.48 to the organization.
Parker, who is a fifth grader at Fremont Elementary School, loves animals.
His family lives in a home between Fremont and Weyauwega and has one dog, two cats, a horse and chickens.
“About two weeks before school started, the cat came running out the woods. It came to us,” Parker’s father, Nathan, said of the male kitten.
They took the kitten to a veterinarian, had it checked and obtained various medications for it before taking it back home with them.
“It was just getting better,” Nathan said.
They soon wondered where it was.
The kitten, which they named “Sunny,” was afraid of their dog.
As a result, Sunny hid under their cars, attaching himself there.
Parker’s family did not realize the kitten was there when one of them drove away from home.
They lost the kitten.
Someone else found him and took him to the Humane Society of Waupaca County.
Nathan claimed him and then put information about the kitten on Facebook since the kitten was afraid of their dog.
One of Nathan’s cousin’s wanted the kitten and brought it to their home, naming it “Clyde.”
Based on a photo provided by the family, Clyde does not have a problem with the dog in that household.
As the event unfolded, Parker decided to set up a lemonade stand.
He set it up in Weyauwega on the day before school started.
Nathan said police officers, community members and those visiting businesses in Weyauwega stopped at Parker’s lemonade stand that day.
When Parker donated his tips to the Humane Society of Waupaca County, Monica Gardner provided several examples of how the money will help the organization.
Gardner, its operations manager, said a couple cats can get spayed or neutered.
The Humane Society can pay its Internet bill for a month with the money or about half of its monthly water bill.
As for Clyde, Nathan says the kitten has already used a few of its nine lives.