It started with a lemonade stand and has led to a lot of happy animals.
Five years ago, Ashley Kovacs, now a seventh-grader at St. James School in Sewickley, came up with the idea of selling lemonade and cookies to golfers to raise money for Animal Friends, a no-kill animal shelter in Ohio Township that she read about in the newspaper.
Because the Kovacs family lives at Diamond Run, a golfing community in Ohio Township, Ashley, 12, said she and her mother thought it would be a good idea to set up a lemonade stand there where golfers could easily stop by and buy a drink and a cookie.
Since then, the summer fundraiser has expanded, and so far, Ashley and six of her friends have raised more than $1,000.
Ashley, who also asks those who come to her birthday parties each year bring items to benefit the shelter instead of gifts for her, said she always loved animals and wanted to do something to help them.
“When I was a kid, I had all kinds of books about them. I was fascinated by them,” said Ashley, who wants to have a career working with animals someday.
After her father, James Kovacs, finally agreed she was old enough, she was granted her wish of getting her own dog, Lucky, a Morkie — a cross between a Yorkshire Terrier and a Maltese — when she was 7 years old. That's when she got the idea for the lemonade stand.
After telling her friends at school about it, several also wanted to get involved. Now, in addition to Ashley, classmates Anthony Guy of Sewickey, Kevin Meurer of Coraopolis, Billy Garrison of Ben Avon, Ian Rodgers of Sewickley and Maryrose Ceccarelli and Victoria Michalenko of Moon Township, all help with the lemonade stands and deliver items and funds to Animal Friends.
Susie Garrison, 10, a St. James fifth-grader who seems to be following in her brother Billy's footsteps, had her own lemonade stand this summer and added her proceeds to the funds donated this year.
Anthony, son of JoAnn and Tony Guy, said when Ashley told him about her efforts five years ago, he “jumped at the chance” to help.
“I'm always excited to do something for the animals and hang out with my friends too,” he said, noting he has a golden retriever named Charlie.
In addition to the golf club, the seven friends also have sold drinks and cookies a few times a month during the summers at shopping centers in Robinson and Ohio townships.
Over the years, both AES Corp. Beaver Valley and Target Corp. also have donated gift cards for supplies to the lemonade stands.
Proceeds from the sales have been used to support Animal Friends' Chow Wagon program, which provides assistance to people and their pets by partnering with local food banks to supply pet food and treats on a monthly basis.
The students also sponsored a pet through the Kind Kids program.
For every $75 donated through the program, vaccinations, flea preventative, microchip, spay/neuter surgery and daily care are given to an individual animal that children get to name.
The students also donated funds, dog biscuits and rawhide treats that visitors can give to the shelter dogs during their visit.
The retail store at Animal Friends partners with several companies to provide matching items for donations, all of which can be viewed from the “shop” button on the Animal Friends homepage.
Some of the companies prefer their name be used, while others make donations of different items.
Anthony, 12, said he loves it when he gets to pet and give the dogs treats at the shelter.
“They get all jumpy. You can tell they like it by the look in their eyes,” he said.
He also said he feels good when they deliver their donations to the woman at the shelter who is always eager to see them and grateful for the donations.
The children soon will be going back to the shelter with blankets they plan to make as Christmas presents for the shelter dogs.
Ashley said when she and her friends are older next summer, they plan to volunteer at the shelter and perhaps attend a camp there to learn how to train animals.
Deb Kovacs said she wanted her daughter to feel what's it like to give back when she began her lemonade project, not just make the money for herself.
“So, we turned it into something fun that benefits something that is close to her heart.”
Joanne Barron is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-324-1406 or jbarron@tribweb.com.
