7-Year-Old Starts Lemonade Stand To Help Pay For Her Late Mother's Tombstone
Her selflessness brought her whole community together.
New Africa / Shutterstock When kids take the initiative, they can really make a difference.
One example is an Alabama seven-year-old who opened a lemonade stand to raise money for her deceased mother’s headstone.
A little girl started selling lemonade to contribute to her family’s fund to buy a headstone for her mother.
Emouree Johnson, a seven-year-old from Scottsboro, Alabama, started a lemonade stand to raise money for a special cause.
In March, Emouree lost her mom, Karli. Because of financial circumstances, Emouree’s family was unable to purchase a tombstone for her mother.
While her family slowly saved money to put towards a headstone, Emouree decided to step in and do what she could to help.
She told local news station WHNT News 19, “I didn’t know just making a little lemonade would bring this many people to my house … It’s fun, but it’s unbelievable at the same time.”
According to WHNT, Emouree far surpassed her goal of being able to help her family afford a headstone. She raised almost $10,000 from selling lemonade and receiving other donations.
Additionally, Emouree’s community banded together to purchase the tombstone themselves.
Emouree’s grandmother, Jennifer Bordner, commented on how much what their community has done means to their family.
Bordner told WHNT, “I’ve just been amazed and have cried happy tears, felt a [peace] and happiness because everybody came to support my little granddaughter … That’s what I wanted the most, for her to not be heartbroken because that’s my world.”
Headstones can be very expensive.
Funerals are pricey in general, and headstones are no different. According to grief support platform Empathy, “After the casket, a headstone is generally the second most expensive item you need to pay for when planning a funeral.”
It’s easy to forget about the importance of a headstone amidst all the other things that must be tended to when a loved one passes away. However, a headstone serves as a reminder of the deceased’s life and lets people know that they existed.
Unfortunately, Empathy said, “The average family pays between $1,000 and $3,000 for the headstone, which includes installation costs.”
Why are funerals so expensive?
The cost of funerals in the United States has become outrageous. CNET reported, “According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the median cost of a funeral with viewing and burial is $7,360. For a burial with a cement vault — as required by most cemeteries, notes the NFDA — the cost jumps to around $8,700.”
These funeral costs are hard to believe. A family has just gone through tragedy and then is asked to pay thousands of dollars to bury their loved one on top of it amid their grief.
CNET also stated, “A study by the Federal Reserve in 2018 found only 61% of American adults could afford an unexpected expense of $400, while a whopping 39% would not be able to afford it without having to sell possessions or go without food or other necessities. For most people, an unexpected $8,000 funeral bill would be emotionally and financially devastating.”
Funerals are incredibly taxing, both emotionally and financially. The family is full of grief and then has this seemingly obligatory event added to it that costs thousands of dollars.
Emouree’s willingness to work to earn money to pay for her mother’s tombstone is truly touching. It’s clear that she loves her mom a lot.
Now, as her grandmother pointed out, she has money saved that she can use for her future, all thanks to the kindness of strangers.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.