Two Silvis cousins sell lemonade for childhood cancer research

Two cousins in Silvis are turning lemons into lemonade to raise awareness and money for childhood cancer.

10-year old Haile Porter, along with her 8-year old cousin Christina Porter set up a lemonade stand outside their grandma’s house near 8th Street and Avenue of the Cities.

They’re doing it in honor of Haile, who was diagnosed with leukemia last year and is now in remission.

“What would you like madam? I will take a juice please,” said Christina Porter.

Haile and Christina Porter’s Snack Shack is open for business.

“We’re selling bubbles, cookies, crackers, juice,” said Christina.

And they’re barely keeping the pitcher full of their number one seller. 

“Lemonade, blueberry lemonade,” said Haile Porter.

But their lemonade stand is more than just a sweet way to help people cool off. 

That’s because when life gave Haile lemons, Haile and her cousin Christina decided to serve it into an ice cold refreshment instead. 

“When I first heard I was getting cancer I thought well am I going to die, because it’s obviously cancer,” said Haile.

Haile was diagnosed with leukemia last year.

“36 days I was in the hospital,” said Haile.

Now that she’s doing better and going through treatment, both girls decided they wanted to support the fight against it.

“It was her idea to start the lemonade stand and I thought of the St. Jude stuff,” said Hailee.

“It’s for people that are very sick and need stuff for their help,” said Christina. 

Pouring one cup at a time, they hope to raise as much money as possible to give back to the hospital that took care of Haile. 

“It’s fun to know that I’m giving money to littler kids and other kids that actually need stuff for their cancer,” said Haile. 

As the girls wait for their customers to start flooding in during these hot summer days, they say they’ll continue to sell the delicious summertime drink with a purpose. 

“Donate to St. Jude,” said Haile and Christina. 

The girls will be at the stand everyday from noon until 6 P.M.

They hope to raise $525 by the end of July. All of the proceeds will go to St.Judes Children’s Research Hospital in Peoria.