Rita's owner wants to help Lemonade Brigade

Those lemonade stands run by children to help other children have grabbed Kristy Anderson's attention -- and heart.

She's a Charlotte real estate agent, but opened Rita's, an Italian ice store on Ardrey Kell Road in southeast Charlotte, on May 8. Her franchise is one of more than 600 Rita's that in June raised nearly $450,000 for Alex's Lemonade Stand, the national foundation that fights childhood cancer.

So while her store was collecting $1,100 of its own, Anderson was reading about Charlotte region children setting up their own stands to raise money for their favorite charities.

"What a great idea it is for kids to be so generous and to learn to give back at such an early age," she said. "It just struck our hearts these little kids are already thinking about charitable work."

So Anderson is making this offer to the proprietors of future lemonade stands: She'll pack up a cooler of Rita's "Alex's Lemonade" Italian ice with scoops and cups and donate it to the cause. If the children running the stand want to donate their proceeds to the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, so much the better. If they want their money to go to another charity, that's fine too.

"We just spent a month helping raise money for a wonderful cause," she said. "We thought why limit it to a month out of the year?"

So lemonade stand operators, here's what you do: Call Anderson at Rita's at 704-542-2258. She'll give you directions to the store and load you up with Italian ice to sell at your next lemonade stand.