Lemonade stand raises funds to help homeless children

Published 11:58 am Thursday, August 11, 2016

SILVERDALE — Kendall Runyan of Bremerton has made it her mission to do whatever she can to help homeless children in Kitsap County.

Runyan was instrumental in setting up events Aug. 5 and 6 to raise money and collect clothes, school supplies and books to donate to those children.

Runyan is an 8-year-old third-grader at Olympic View Elementary School.

“She has been really interested in helping homeless people since she was 4 years old,” Adrienne Runyan, Kendall’s mother, said. “She would see them on the side of the road and want to know why they’re homeless and how she could help. So I found any way that I could to help her.”

With the help of her parents, Kendall set up a lemonade stand, first at the Olympic View Community Center, then after the amazing response, outside MOD Pizza on Aug. 5 and in front of Naturally For Paws on Aug. 6, in Silverdale. Adrienne said they sold about 200 cups of lemonade and raised $476.84. They also collected a large box full of school supplies and another full of clothing.

“I’m very proud of her,” Adrienne said. “She has an unusual social conscience. She’s more aware of what’s around her than an average 8 year old, and I’m really proud of that.”

Kendall and her mom have donated to the Salvation Army and helped out the Stand Up For Kids program in the past. She’s a mentee in the Miss Washington’s Outstanding Teen program and organized the Great Kitsap Pasta Feed, with the help of her mom, a couple years ago at the Silverdale Community Center. And,  according to her dad Kevin Runyan, the whole thing was Kendall’s idea.

“It’s all her doing,” he said. “She started this with a little, small lemonade stand over in our community center in Olympic View, and it kind of expanded into this.”

Kevin said that through her mom and older sister’s fundraising for the Children’s Hospital in Seattle, Kendall has been exposed for years to the idea of helping others.

Abigail Dominguiano, Kendall’s mentor in the Miss Washington Outstanding Teen program, said Kendall “has such a passion for her community, so it’s really neat to see her grow and put things together for her community.”

So why this cause?

“I think (it’s important) because a lot of people are giving most of the things that they need to teens,” Kendall said, “and I think that children need it most, because they need to grow up.”

Dominguiano said, “It’s important because it’s something that has to deal with her. And you don’t see a lot of kids wanting to help out other kids like her, but in a different predicament than her.

“She sees her ability to be able to make that change, and being able to do that through sticking together a lemonade stand, which is simple for everybody and anybody can do it.”

Kendall Runyan, 8, hands out a cup of homemade lemonade at her stand Aug. 5 outside MOD Pizza. Proceeds from the stand are being donated to help homeless children. Photo by Michelle Beahm

After raising almost $40 at the first stand in Olympic View, Adrienne said, “The response to it was very, very positive, and much more volume than we expected. People were saying, ‘Can you do it again? I missed it.’ So we decided to take it one step further.”

Kendall contacted Naturally For Paws to get permission to put up her lemonade stand in front of their store. Then Adrienne suggested they also try a restaurant.

“We thought about MOD Pizza cause we’d been there recently for another event,” Adrienne explained.

So Kendall approached the manager, Elizabeth Rice, to set that up.

“We’re always looking for ways to get involved in our communities,” Rice said. “Kendall and her mom came in and asked about possibly setting up, and what they’re doing is right in line with what we’re trying to do. So I hooked them up with our marketing team at our corporate offices, and we were able to finalize a day and work it out.

“We’re excited to have (Kendall) here. She’s such a sweetheart, and is doing something for the community that is really awesome.”

No other dates have been scheduled, but Kendall made it clear she intends to continue fundraising to help support homeless kids.

“She is tossing around the idea of having a hot chocolate and/or coffee sale on Black Friday,” Adrienne said.

Kevin said, “I’m just very proud of her. She’s quite talented for an 8 year old, more so than a lot of children. It’s nice that she recognizes there are children who are in more of a need than she is.”