Lemonade for sale! Come learn more about PANDA’s (People Acting Now Discover Answers) annual Lemonade Stand Day, which will be held on Sunday, March 24. This fun, family day is all about inspiring the next generation of “Children Helping Children” with kids across the valley hosting lemonade stands to raise funds for the Steele Children’s Research Center. Steele helps find treatments and cures for sick children. Be sure to visit www.azpanda.org for a full list of lemonade stands around the valley so you can stop by and support PANDA!
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Sometimes giving back can feel overwhelming.
00:04 But what if I told you all you had to do
00:07 was purchase a cup of lemonade?
00:09 Well, the folks from Panda are here to talk about
00:11 their annual Lemonade Stand Day.
00:13 Welcome, everyone.
00:14 - Hi, how are you?
00:15 - Hi, guys.
00:16 We're so excited to have you all here.
00:18 Yeah, so Ashley, we're gonna start with you.
00:20 Okay, this is such an incredible thing that you are doing.
00:23 Tell us how it got started.
00:25 - Oh, man, it's a beautiful story.
00:27 One of our founders, Penny Gunning,
00:29 her neighbor actually, unfortunately,
00:31 lost a child to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
00:34 And it just sparked something in her that she felt
00:36 like there was something more that could be done.
00:38 Fast forward to, that was in the '80s,
00:40 fast forward to 1999, when Panda, our board, came to be.
00:44 And now we're celebrating 24 years
00:47 with almost 200 women that have been on our board.
00:49 - Oh, my goodness, congratulations on that.
00:51 That is absolutely incredible.
00:53 And tell us what Panda stands for,
00:55 'cause it's kind of an unusual name.
00:57 - Yeah, it is.
00:57 It's an acronym for People Acting Now, Discover Answers.
01:01 So we believe whatever we do now
01:03 is gonna really help children in the future.
01:05 - Definitely, definitely.
01:06 And something I was reading about, you guys,
01:08 that's so cool is you are all about
01:11 children helping children.
01:12 So this isn't just about the moms.
01:14 Obviously, the moms are all involved.
01:16 Everybody is so supportive and behind this.
01:19 But this is really about the kids helping other kids.
01:21 So before we get to our awesome stars here,
01:24 tell me a little bit about how, for a mom,
01:26 how does that make you feel to see your family
01:28 and your kids helping out and doing this?
01:30 - To be honest, I'm so glad you asked that question.
01:32 And to be honest, that's something that really drew me
01:33 to the board when I was first nominated for myself to go on.
01:37 There is just something about raising up
01:39 the next generation of children who wanna give back.
01:43 And that creates adults that wanna give back,
01:45 and we can actually make a healthier future for kids.
01:48 But to see our kids, my son and some of my friends' kids
01:51 here today, and this isn't just their first time helping.
01:54 I mean, they've been at multiple lemonade stands.
01:57 They walked in our Panda Fashion Show last year.
01:59 And now here they are this morning.
02:01 And I did hear someone say that maybe they were happy
02:03 they're missing school a little bit,
02:04 but ultimately they're here 'cause they do definitely
02:06 wanna help kids.
02:08 They know the importance of, some of us have siblings
02:11 who have needed Panda's help in the past.
02:14 And for all of us, we have friends that someday
02:16 will probably need the same.
02:18 - Definitely. - So I love it.
02:19 - And you said something about raising up
02:21 the next generation, that they will eventually
02:22 become adults who give back.
02:24 So this is about changing the world,
02:26 because we really can do that, especially as adults,
02:28 but also when we get our kids to be involved.
02:31 Okay, guys, so I wanna talk a little bit to you guys,
02:34 'cause this is really about you.
02:35 This is your guys' thing.
02:36 It's kids helping other kids.
02:38 So Roman, we're gonna start with you.
02:40 Tell me a little bit about how it feels to be involved
02:42 with the lemonade stand.
02:43 - It is really cool because we get to help other children,
02:47 and we are kids to just help other children is really cool.
02:50 - Definitely. - 'Cause they need it
02:53 more than we do.
02:54 - That's really cool.
02:54 Well, thank you for what you do,
02:55 'cause it's really, really awesome.
02:57 How many years have you been involved?
02:58 - About three years.
02:59 - Really cool, congratulations.
03:01 Well, thank you for being here.
03:02 Okay, I'm gonna move over here.
03:03 Harper, right?
03:04 I'm sorry, we keep playing back and forth.
03:06 Harper, tell me about how it is for you.
03:08 What's your favorite part?
03:09 - Well, it's just so amazing, and I love the concept
03:12 where you get to, it's children helping children,
03:14 which just feels so amazing.
03:16 And I do know people that do need the help,
03:18 and it just feels really nice that we get to be a part of it
03:21 and that we get to help people,
03:23 which really does feel amazing,
03:25 and that's probably my favorite part.
03:27 It is one of the best days of the year, and yeah.
03:30 It's just really amazing
03:31 that we get to help other children.
03:32 - Okay, so how many years have you been involved?
03:35 - Yeah, probably around three or four years.
03:37 - Very cool, and how old are you?
03:38 - I am 11.
03:40 - She's only 11, so she's been doing this
03:41 for four years already.
03:42 That's incredible.
03:43 Okay, Leo, we're gonna come over here to you.
03:46 You have a panda in your hands, which I love,
03:47 but Leo, what do you love about it?
03:50 I mean, do you like the lemonade
03:51 or do you like the donuts?
03:52 What's your favorite part?
03:54 - I really like the donut.
03:55 (laughing)
03:57 - Of course, absolutely.
03:58 How many years have you done this?
04:00 Is this your first year?
04:04 - Yeah.
04:05 - Your first year being involved, that's so cool.
04:07 Do you make the lemonade?
04:09 - No.
04:10 (laughing)
04:10 - That's okay, I wouldn't either.
04:12 I would buy it.
04:13 All right, Leo, thank you so much for being here.
04:14 We love the panda.
04:15 All right, Ashley, so remind everybody
04:17 when Lemonade Stand Day is happening.
04:19 - So it's gonna be in the next few.
04:21 - Two weeks, it's on March 24th.
04:23 And one of the things I do wanna point out too
04:26 is since we are a local board,
04:28 we have incredible companies and sponsors
04:31 that have come on to really join us in our efforts.
04:33 One of those is Walt Danly Local Luxury,
04:36 Christine's International Real Estate,
04:39 and then Sprouts Healthy Communities.
04:41 So they help us and they've actually made the contact
04:44 for us with Dan's Ice and Lemonade.
04:46 And this is a local family-owned business
04:48 and they supply all the lemonade that day for us.
04:51 So, and it's fresh, it stays refrigerated.
04:52 So as much as we probably love the good old day,
04:55 you know, mixing lemonade,
04:56 we know that we're getting excellent lemonade for sure.
04:59 - 100%.
05:00 Well, thank you to all of those companies who are involved.
05:02 This is just so, so, so special.
05:03 So what I wanna do is I want all of us here
05:06 to have a glass of lemonade and we're gonna do a cheers.
05:08 - You got it, guys.
05:09 - Here, Leo, I'll hand you one.
05:11 There you go.
05:12 Harper, you can take this one.
05:13 - Thank you.
05:13 - And I've got yours.
05:14 - I'll take this last one.
05:15 All right, guys, so it's happening March 24th.
05:17 Make sure you guys get involved
05:18 'cause we all need some tasty lemonade, right?
05:20 - Definitely.
05:21 - Cheers. - Cheers.
05:22 - Thank you all for being here.
05:23 - Thank you so much.
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