By Richard Price
Grafton News Editor –
This lemonade stand fundraiser thing is getting really popular.
Last year, 6-year-old Tyler Hardiman talked his mother, Danielle, into setting up a stand on four days notice so he could raise money for a Grafton police sergeant who was on medical leave while battling lymphoma cancer.
The tyke raised over $1,600 while basking in TV and print media coverage as cops from Grafton, Hopkinton, the Millbury Police K9 Unit, State Police, Sutton, Shrewsbury, Westborough, Northbridge and Upton stopped by to whet their whistle.
But last Thursday Tyler, dressed in shorts and a military style haircut, outdid himself and raised $2,500 for Project New Hope, a nonprofit based in Worcester that supports veterans suffering with post traumatic stress, traumatic brain injuries and other conditions.
Or as Tyler told Fox 25 News, the Boston TV affiliate, “I just want to help the Army men so they can survive.”
The enterprising 7-year-old boy got some backup. A convoy of about 40 Jeeps of all shapes and sizes, including a 5-ton Army tanker, snaked down the leafy Barbara Jean Street as a Grafton police escort lead the way. Part of a group called Central Mass Jeeperz, Danielle Hardiman said many were veterans excited to participate. After a media blast promotion from two radio stations and The Grafton News the neighborhood was jammed with donors, well wishers and curiosity seekers. Overhead, a drone was buzzing while taking photos.
When Tyler was finished he and a friend poured about 10 gallons of lemonade and iced tea for over 500 which included his second grade teacher and Millbury Street Elementary Principal Janet Stocklin.
Danielle, who works at Highfields Golf & Country Club, used her skills to help organize the event, just like last year. She has had plenty of success raising money for charity. She organized the 5th Annual KMS Golf Tourna-Mint!, held in memory of her friend, Krista M. Schonberg, who died in 2011. That event raised $4,300 for the Sofia Sugarman Fund.
Kathee Bolack, assistant treasurer for Project New Hope, said the money raised from the lemonade stand will be well spent. “We hold retreats for all vets,” she said which she said are free to vets, held in Groton and can include up to 20 families. The outings offer holistic therapy, massage therapy and meditation.
Held in wilderness settings, Bolack said there are plenty of workshops and activities, and all of it is paid for with donations. Here, she said, attendees get support for not just PTSD and traumatic brain injury but also military sexual trauma, drug and alcohol dependency, as well as veterans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning.
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