British Columbia

Parksville, B.C., lemonade stand nets more than $1,600 for B.C. Children's Hospital

When a classmate of Noah Nelson, 9, was diagnosed with brain cancer, he and four of his friends decided to spend the summer raising money for his care by selling lemonade.

5 friends spent summer raising money to help with care for classmate with brain cancer

Noah Nelson, in red shirt, holding cheque on the left, and his group of friends donated $1,636.20 to the B.C. Children's Hospital on Friday, Sept. 1, 2017 after raising the money at a lemonade stand in their hometown of Parksville, B.C. (Cliff Shim/CBC)

When a classmate of Noah Nelson, 9, was diagnosed with brain cancer, he and his friends decided to spend the summer raising money for his care by selling lemonade.

"I feel really lucky to be able to do this because I've always wanted to set up a lemonade stand for the summer but I never thought it would be to raise money for the hospital," Noah said.

The group of five friends spent their entire summer holiday selling lemonade. "It was really hot," says Noah. (CHEK News)

This week, Noah and his friends came to Vancouver and officially handed over a cheque to the B.C. Children's Hospital for $1,636.20.

One of many transactions Noah Nelson and his friends made this summer to raise $1,636.20 for the B.C. Children's Hospital. (CHEK News)

'Kindness and awareness'

"This was not something their mothers or fathers suggested that they do, they came up with the idea themselves," said Pamela Smith who speaks for the hospital.

"That takes a great amount of kindness and awareness of the world around you."

The group's original goal was to raise $1,000, but surpassed that.

Noah's mother, Melissa Kneeshaw, said she was proud of her son.

"It makes me feel really good as a parent, it makes me feel like I did something right. They're awesome kids all of them," said Kneeshaw.

Melissa Kneeshaw says she's proud of the group's dedication to helping their classmate, who, she says, is home recovering after surgery. (CHEK News)

To celebrate their success, the Noah and his friends went shopping in Vancouver, to Granville Island and also to Cultus Lake in the Fraser Valley. Nelson said they're earned the vacation after a long summer on the lemonade stand.

"It was really hard because we were out there most days and it was really hot and we were out there for awhile. Yeah it was kind of a challenge."

with files from Cliff Shim.