Boys' Lemonade Stand Raises $850 for Local Causes

Trevor Monahan and his cousins, Charley and Owen Seibert, were the talk of . At 2:45 p.m. practically the whole school made a beeline to the 10300 block of South Tripp Avenue for the boys’ lemonade stand.

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The boys made $850 selling lemonade, popcorn and other treats, which they are dividing between a pair of worthy local causes.

Half of the money will go toward the family of St. Catherine’s fourth-grader Jack DeMatteo who is battling Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease that affects mostly boys. His family is trying to raise $40,000 to have a stairlift installed in the school that will not only help Jack but future students and community members with mobility issues.

The remainder will be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in honor of a young family friend who has Diabetes 1 or juvenile diabetes.

"The boys wanted to do a lemonade stand all summer but I kept putting it off until now,” Julie Monahan said, mother of Trevor, 6. “It’s a good opportunity for them to give something back.”

Trish Siebert, mom of Charley, 6, and Owen, 3, organized the lemonade stand with her twin sister. The Oak Lawn moms’ first-grade boys—Charley and Trevor—were born 27 days apart and both attend St. Catherine’s.

Charley’s kid brother, Owen, is in St. Catherine’s preschool program.

Monahan said they chose Jack DeMatteo’s family as a beneficiary when they saw a flier for a golf outing that is being held for the family.

“We don’t know the family well, they didn’t ask us to this,” Monahan said. “Our friend Rosemary donated the popcorn machine and all of the popcorn. Our Aunt Sharon donated more lemonade.”

The sisters’ mother, Mickey Jorgensen, said her daughters both have a flair for fundraising.

“Trish and Julie have done several fundraisers and they never take any of the money. Everything they do comes out of their own pocket,” Jorgensen said. “All of the money they raise goes directly to the charity or the person they’re trying to help.”

Charley, Trevor and Owen served that top-secret lemonade concoction of Country Time and squeezed lemons—known only to Oak Lawn kids, l It was delicious.

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