Thorold, ON., August 2, 2024 - The fundraising totals are in for the 3^rd Annual Mountainview LemonAID Day for FACS Niagara and the FACS Niagara Foundation is excited to announce that the community raised more than $90,000 to support sending local children to camp this summer. Thanks to the generosity of the Niagara community, FACS Niagara is providing approximately 500 weeks of summer camp to local children served by the agency.

This year’s event took place on Saturday, June 8 across the Niagara region, with 100 lemonade stands hosted by local families, municipalities, and businesses on a bright, sunny day.

“We are so grateful to all the families, children, individuals, and sponsors who supported Mountainview LemonAID Day this year and brought energy and enthusiasm to their stands,” says Caroline Polgrabia, President of the FACS Niagara Foundation Board. “It’s always great to see the event’s growth through the new and returning faces of the participants.”

Thanks to the generosity of the event’s title sponsor, Mountainview Building Group, families are able to participate at no cost, as Mountainview provides participants with everything they need to host a lemonade stand. This means 100 per cent of proceeds raised from each lemonade stand helps to make summer special for kids served by FACS Niagara. Special thanks to the Tim Hortons at 170 Fourth Ave. in St. Catharines for providing the lemonade concentrate for each stand.

“Building strong communities should always be at the forefront and part of this is coming together for events like Mountainview LemonAID Day,” says Mark Basciano, President, Mountainview Building Group. “We are so happy to be a part of this initiative and are proud to do our part in making a meaningful impact on the community and lives of children.”

The proceeds from Mountainview LemonAID Day provide children with camp experiences every summer. This includes weeklong day camps in Niagara, overnight camps outside the region, specialty camps to support children with complex special needs, supporting camping trips with foster parents, and special camp-at-home baskets.

“Over 600 families receive ongoing services and support from FACS Niagara at any one time,” says Anna Bozza, FACS Niagara Chief Executive Officer. “It is inspiring to see our children eager to get outdoors and experience everything that camp has to offer. Summer camp is all about letting kids be kids as they learn, explore and have fun with friends, and it is so great to see our community rally around this initiative to support that.”

A special award was also presented to The Citrus Twists stand, who for the second year in a row, were the top fundraising team with a total of $3,829 raised.

Thank you to all other sponsors for supporting Mountainview LemonAID Day including BCM Insurance, Cotton Construction, Eleven Eleven Real Estate Services and SilverLine Group Inc.