Teach Your Children Well: ‘Free Lemonade, Donations Gladly Accepted’

By Carol Tannenhauser

When Jeremy Zorek was five years old he wanted to open a lemonade stand on his corner, Columbus Avenue and 86th Street. His parents made him a deal. “We said, ‘If you do it to make money for yourself, we’ll buy the stuff and you’ll pay us back from what you earn,” said Michael Zorek, Jeremy’s father. “If you do it for charity, we’ll pay your expenses.” Jeremy, now 15, chose charity and, with his sister, Diana, 11, has been raising money ever since for “hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, flooding, wildfires, you name it,” Diana said.

“I think this is our biggest take yet,” Jeremy estimated. He and Diana were spending their school vacation — he goes to Hunter High School and she to Booker T. Washington Middle School — out in Wednesday’s sunny, 70-degree weather giving away free lemonade and taking donations for the victims of the Parkland, Florida shooting. “We’re sending the money to their movement March for Our Lives,” Jeremy said. “I feel like it’s a turning point. The kids are finally making their angry voices heard. It’s not just going by as another mass shooting. It’s the big one — the one that got everyone riled up.”

“I would not like some lemonade, but I would like to give you some money,” said a passerby. “Good job, guys!” said another, offering a bill. “Daddy! Have we got change for a fifty?” Diana yelled. “Free lemonade!” called Jeremy. “Donations gladly accepted!”