Kids selling lemonade on the sidewalk is just about the most innocent and joyful thing I can think of, but for one girl in Las Cruces, New Mexico, it’s a lot more serious. Eleven-year-old Nemiah Martinez has been selling lemonade as a way to fund a major surgical procedure for her mother.
Martinez’ mother Paloma recently found out that she needed a kidney and pancreas transplant, so young Nemiah took it upon herself to earn the money needed to send Paloma to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona to get on a transplant list and undergo the procedures.
Martinez has sold lemonade from her garage for the last three weeks and plans to continue until she’s raised the money. Earlier this month, after pulling in over $200 from her lemonade sales (the lemonade costs $1.50 per cup), Martinez launched a GoFundMe campaign that as of today has raised $2,324 of its $650 goal. In the description of her campaign “Helping my mommy raise money,” Martinez wrote:
My mommy has always taken care of me and I want to take care of her…I see how much my mom is struggling and all I want to do is help her, if you see me around town, I hope that you stop by.☺️
While her mother told Martinez to keep the money she earned from the lemonade stand, Martinez insisted on helping her mother with the bills. It’s sad that an 11-year-old feels like she has to take on so much responsibility, but truly inspiring that she has taken it on with so much grace. Damn.