THOMASVILLE — A pair of brothers are now being called the lemonade stand kids after they raised $7,500 throughout the summer to give back to the community. 

Thomas Casper and William Casper both 10, Neil Wise,13 and JC Wise,12, initially were looking to start a lemonade stand as a summer job. 

Neil said he already did three lemonade stands and was surprised to get around $100. 

The boys then went to work on their first collaborative lemonade stand to save money for themselves and were even more surprised to have made $300. 

That’s when they came up with the idea to start giving back to the community. 

“The community gave to us a lot and we were like if we donated, we could make more money and then more money could go back to the community,” William said. “We’ve made a lot of money for the community so far.“  

The boys expanded their menu with homemade cookies, homemade brownies, chips, and barbecue sandwiches along with the lemonade, and raised $600 at their first fundraiser. 

“The community really came in and loved the fact that it was a lemonade stand. You just don’t see that anymore,” Amy Casper, William and Thomas’ mom, said. “We made 52 sandwiches and they sold out within 15 minutes.”  

The $600 went to the Humane Society to treat three dogs with heartworm disease.  

The success from the first lemonade fundraiser encouraged the boys to do it again, only the second time, the boys decided to raise funds for Rebecca Sanders, a nurse practitioner at Archbold who was diagnosed with cancer. 

They raised $5,200 toward Sanders’ medical expenses. 

The last lemonade stand fundraiser for the summer was last Saturday and the boys sold out in an hour, raising $1,700 for the Treehouse Children’s Advocacy Center. 

“We’re very excited and fortunate that they were thinking of us during their summer break,” Jackla Lawson, executive director of the Treehouse said. “We were very happy to be their last lemonade stand beneficiary of the summer.”  

Amy said all of the efforts and hard work behind the fundraisers solely came from the boys. 

“We don’t help. I help get the pan in and out of the oven but that is them. It’s something that takes a lot of their time,” she said. 

William recalls preparation for each fundraiser where the boys made about five batches of cookies for one lemonade stand. 

“It took about two to four days at most to prepare for everything. We had to make cookies one day and that took a long time and then Boston butts took 12 hours. It was a very long time to set up before we actually had the stand,” he said.  

Their hard work has proven to pay off as a lot of positive feedback and support came from the community. 

Local businesses such as Hubbard’s Country Meat Market and Sweet Cacao Chocolates donated supplies to the boys for each fundraiser.  

Local chef Danyelle Eidson also heard of the boy’s kindness and decided to not only donate food but also teach them more cooking skills. 

“We had some other people donate bottles of water. I mean, people were just donating, and it was great,” Amy said. “I got a donation through Venmo from a couple in Texas. It’s just one of those things you just never know who’s touched by it. It’s been neat, so now we can’t stop.”  

With the boys returning to school, they don’t have a set date for their next lemonade stand fundraiser but are planning to do their next one in the fall.  

“If we meet on like Saturday or Sunday, people may come after church and come by to get barbecue sandwiches,” William said. 

Neil is also eager to plan a holiday themed fundraiser and said it’s easy for him to do these fundraisers because of the continued support from the community. 

“There’s a lot of supporters that we really like and we’re grateful for them and what they do for us and just want to give back to them which we do,” he said. 

Lawson said she knows the boys will have a bright future ahead of them as they show promise at such a young age. 

“These boys are definitely going to be doing great things in life for sure. We are humbled by their selflessness,” she said