TMSG:Community Comes Together After Thieves Steal Money From Lemonade Stand

Lemonade Stands are notoriously associated with kids just trying to make a little cash for themselves or to do something good with their earnings.

That was the case with 9-year-old twins Katelyn and Elias Schmidt who were just hanging out together having a lemonade stand. But things turned bad quickly when a girl got out of a car, grabbed their tip jar, and fled.

The Schmidt family called police to let them know what happened. That’s when Iowa Officer Celena Rohland messaged her fellow police officers and asked them to see if they could visit the lemond stand to “make a difference in Katelyn and Elias’ day.”

The twins reopened their stand after the devastating incident and four different law enforcement agencies showed up to help them get the money back that was stolen. The kids’ mom Karen told KCCI“There was one bad apple, but they got feel the goodness of so many more people. One bad apple will not ruin it for us. We are pressing on.”

Press on they did and were able to raise more than $750 with their lemonade. Now the kids plan to donate all of that to the Shop with a Cop program. They’re excited to give back to the community that supported them.