This year marked the 10th anniversary for the Thorn Collection Lemonade Stand annual fundraising event. How much good can a lemonade stand really do? Coldwell Banker Realty agent Martha Thorn and her team, known collectively as the Thorn Collection, have put that iconic childhood element to the test. Over the last 10 years, they have held a lemonade stand fundraiser for just ONE afternoon each Fall. The result? More than $300,000 has been raised, collectively, to benefit the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation.
The Thorn Collection Lemonade Stand raised nearly $60,000 at its community fundraising event, held from 4-6 pm, October 12, 2023, in Belleair Bluffs near Clearwater. Despite bad weather that day with tornado watches in affect, the real estate team raised nearly as much as the previous year’s $65,000 total. Straggler donations came into the team’s website for weeks after the official event. And it all started with a simple concept and just $3,000 raised in 2014, the first year.
"I want to thank all our friends, clients and members of the community for making our lemonade fundraiser a success again this year,” said Martha Thorn. “We truly appreciate every donation, large and small, and know it will make a difference."
According to the fundraising website, it says it supports the fighters, admire the survivors, honor the taken and, above all, encourages everyone to never give up hope for a cure. Cancer is the No.1 cause of death by disease among children.
Martha Thorn says she credits the event’s success on repeat customers, amazing clients as well as the community outreach they do by email, mail, social media and advertising. For the last three years, the team has honored clients’ children who have battled cancer.
The Thorn Collection Lemonade Stand also had local sponsors, including Lane’s Lemonade in Dunedin who donated the lemonade and Kookie Krums in Dunedin who donated wrapped cookies.
Martha Thorn personally matched two of the largest donations from this year’s lemonade stand event. The Coldwell Banker CARES Foundation also made a donation to the fundraiser. The local JMcLaughlin clothing store had a day of shopping where 15% of all totals went to this cause and raised thousands of dollars. Beyond this one-day event, Martha Thorn makes a donation to this pediatric cancer cause from every closing her team achieves during the year (those donations are not included in this total).
Martha Thorn and her team’s next big goal will be to cross the $100,000 donation mark for a single year.
