In early 2014, Jake Oberg, then age 9, lost his grandpa to Alzheimer’s disease. Jake came up with the idea to have a lemonade stand to raise money and awareness about the disease among his friends and their families. This year he will host the fourth annual Ade for Alzheimer’s Lemonade Stand and Bake Sale at Lancaster’s landmark Frosty’s Ice Cream from noon to 4 p.m. June 25. Frosty’s is located at 5500 Broadway in the Village of Lancaster.
To date the annual event has raised over $8,000 and Jacob and his friends hope to keep that momentum going this year with cold drinks, sweet treats, a basket raffle for family friendly prizes and gift certificates from many local sponsors.
New for this year, Jake and his mom, Debbie Oberg, introduced their fundraiser to the William Street School where Jake is finishing sixth grade. With help from the Alzheimer’s Association WNY Chapter, Ms. Oberg addressed the students and faculty in an assembly about the disease and introduced the fundraiser. For three days during lunch, volunteers manned the “Lemon Face” photo booth where students donated $2 each to have their photos taken sucking on a lemon. Over those three days the team took over 400 photos, sold over 600 #ADE4ALZ bracelets and raised over $1,800 for the cause!
“We created the lemonade stand as a way to start a conversation about Alzheimer’s within our community, and this was a natural extension of that,” explains Ms. Oberg. “It exceeded our expectations in every way. The children were so energized and excited about the cause and asked great questions. Many parents and faculty shared stories of how the disease has touched them. It has been such a great experience for our family.”
Oberg hopes to bring this to other school districts in the future. Please email ta*****@gm***.com for more information.
Jake will be raising funds through his event and also through online donations, all of which will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association WNY Chapter. For more information or to donate to the Ade for Alzheimer’s, please visit www.ade4alz.com.
Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Currently, more than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. To find out more, visit www.alz.org/WNY.
