Alex’s Lemonade Stand Kick’s Off Another Year

COLUMBUS - If you like drinking lemonade, and want to help donate to Childhood Cancer Research, then don't miss your chance to do both this weekend. The Hudnall family has been raising money for the cause for over a decade now, through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, and kicked off their upcoming weekend efforts by teaming up with Northwestern Mutual. This is the second year Northwestern Mutual has teamed up with Hudnall family. "We thought it would be fun to kind of team up. Kick-off the Hudnl stand that will be going on this weekend. It's our intern day of service, so we have 4 of our interns here serving food, serving lemonade, just kind of helping out with games, so it's really cool," says Northwestern Mutual's Nathan Karges. Madeline Hudnall says they first hosted the stand after she realized it was a way she could help her friend Charli Preister who was battling cancer. "When I was little I saw a little poster thing on the table at Applebee's, and it said raise money for childhood cancer," says Madeline Hudnall, "and my friend Charli Preister, I knew her, and I was like Oh my gosh, I have to do this for Charli." Lillian Hudnall says, "It's crazy to see our first year when we raised $100, and most of it was just from Charli's parents, and to this year, we're already at $2,000, and the stand hasn't even opened yet." Preister says it's been fun to see the community support grow, over the years. "It's great. You just get to find [and support] research. Because every kid deserves to have fun and go do what they love to do," says Preister. The stand will be open at Hy-Vee from 2 to 8 p.m. on Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.