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Support pours in for lemonade stand squeezed by police

Posted at 7:03 PM, Jun 07, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-07 21:03:45-04

A second chance for three young boys that had their lemonade stand shut down on Memorial Day in Denver.

They got to try again in Colorado Springs at the very charity they were raising money for.

"I think you made a lot of money today," Patrick Guffey, the father of the boys said.

At only 2, 4 and now, 7 years old, these brothers might have a future in business.

"Raising money for kids in need," Ben Guffey, a 7-year-old entrepreneur said.

Their lemonade stand attracted folks from across Colorado Springs, a week after things went sour.

"You know, it turns out in Denver, you need permits to have a lemonade stand," Jennifer Knowles, the mother of the boys said.

Despite their age, and charitable intentions, their original stand was shut down by police in Denver after a vendor nearby complained.

"My older boys who understood what was going on, they cried for hours that they were trying to do something wonderful and it turned into lemons," she said.

That was until the very charity they were raising money for, caught wind of the story.

"We saw the story and said, hey, we’ve got this great property here and we don’t need a permit to sell lemonade on our private property so come on out," Tim Glenn, a spokesman for Compassion International said.

And boy, did the community show up…

"It wasn’t just for them and maybe a project or something that they wanted to buy but they’re supporting others by what they’re doing and you want to instill great values in kids especially when they’re this young," Jessica Stanwood, a supporter said.

All of the proceeds will help kids in need across the world through Compassion International.

"What started out as wanting to teach the boys entrepreneurship and charity, giving back with the lemonade stand has truly turned into a lesson of kindness in this world and the incredible outpouring and compassion and the good in people," Knowles said.

Floored by the overwhelming amount of support.

"It’s amazing to me that a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old, and a 6-year-old have the heart to care about kids that they may never meet, kids living in poverty on the other side of the earth," Glenn said.

In two hours on Thursday, they raised more than $2700. That combined with other money raised at Chick-fil-A and on GoFundMe, they were able to donate a grand total of more than $8200.