A pregnancy center in Decatur, Texas, is the grateful recipient of devotion, care, and fundraising from the White family.
Berry White and his wife Lee first became involved with Wise Choices Pregnancy Center after learning about their good work from church friends.
"We just loved what they were doing, right from the start," Berry said.
The pregnancy help medical facility is about 50 miles northwest of Dallas and offers everything from pregnancy tests and ultrasounds to parenting classes and post abortion healing programs. The center sees around 200 clients a month, including approximately 30 for ultrasounds.
Berry, a lawyer, has been on the Wise Choices Board of Directors for several years, and Lee, a pediatric nurse, volunteers at the center.
At home, their five-year-old daughter was hearing about Wise Choices and the women and babies in need. She saw her parents’ dedication and came up with an idea all on her own to fundraise for the center.
"Well, Ainsley came to us and said she wanted to have a lemonade stand," Berry said. "It was her idea; she came up with it all on her own, and of course we wanted to support her."
It was just a few weeks before the local annual Fourth of July festival. The event always draws a crowd between a golf tournament, parade, and fireworks show. The White family decided that would be a great place to hold a lemonade stand.
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Connie Coleman was CEO of Wise Choices that first year of the lemonade stand and recalls Ainsley and her dad coming in to talk about their idea.
"They had marketing flyers, a budget for expenses, the details and hours of the lemonade stand, and brought it all to the center to present to me,” she said. “Ainsley was very excited.”
“Yes, at age five, almost six, she created it,” said Connie. “We shook on the deal. And that sweet child worked her little tail off all day long at the Fourth of July celebration in her town. She missed participating in the parade, thejumhouses, all the excitement to stay and work her stand."
Ainsley, along with her mom and dad, went door to door with copies of the sign announcing the lemonade fundraiser to local shops, asking if they would hang the sign in their window.
The big day arrived, and Ainsley was all set up with pitchers, plastic cups, ice, and homemade fresh lemonade. In 100-degree heat, Ainsley, along with her mom, poured lemonade from morning to 11 p.m.
By the end of the evening, a lot of people had learned about the great work of Wise Choices, and Ainsley's idea had raised $1310 for the center.
Afterward, Ainsley went to Wise Choices with the proceeds.
"When she brought in her earnings, it was so precious,” Connie said. “She revealed that she had made $1,300+ dollars!”
“I knew we wanted to do something special with that money,” she said. “We were currently remodeling the baby boutique, so we added a “lemon” theme, purchased what was needed to serve the mommas and babies, and began to call our baby boutique Ainsley’s Place. It is still called that today and has served many babies since then.”
Ainsley has continued to sell lemonade to benefit the center.
Berry, said, “From the very first year, Ainsley has said, ‘I really want to help the moms and the babies.’ We give her the choice now, the past couple of years; does she want to continue the lemonade stand or stop. And she says she wants to continue. This year it reached 118 degrees, and she just stayed there at that stand the entire day.”
Tweet This: "I really want to help the moms and the babies" - 10-year-old Ainsley, who has raised more than $14K for a Texas pregnancy center.
The price of a cup of lemonade is whatever people choose to give, and many people give far more than a dollar. Some have given $20, some $50, and others even $100, $200, or $300. For those who would like to pay by credit card, there’s now a QR code posted at the lemonade stand that brings customers to Wise Choices website and the ability to donate to Ainsley’s lemonade stand.
The current CEO of Wise Choices, Brandie Hayden says Ainsley’s enthusiasm brings tears to her eyes.
“I’m so glad she’s being recognized,” Brandie said.
“She gives so selflessly and mans that lemonade stand while all her friends are off having fun at the Fourth of July event,” said Brandie. “The amount of money she’s brought in is quite amazing…over $14,000 now…but it’s also free advertising for us. There are people who live in our community who didn’t know anything about us.”
This past July, a local newspaper came out to the lemonade stand to interview Ainsley and take pictures of her fundraising event.
When asked if she would share her lemonade recipe, she told the reporter, “I am sorry sir, but that is confidential.”
“A day or two after the event, Ainsley came in with her family, and she had this little bank bag to present to us, with all the cash and a few checks in it,” Brandie said. “She said she wanted to give it to us before she went away to summer camp. We had a little celebration for her, we had cupcakes and presented her with a framed copy of the newspaper article.”
Every summer since then, Ainsley's lemonade stand for Wise Choices has been a regular stop for cold drinks. Sometimes she even has a line of people waiting.
Now the entire White family is involved. Ainsley has her two younger sisters, Lola, 8, and Vera, 6, also help out.
Each year, her sales have grown:
2019 - $1310.00
2020 - $1798.35
2021 - $3111.75
2022 - $3653.00
2023 - $4304.14
Total to date - $14,177.24!
