9-Year-Old's Lemonade Stand Generates Big Donation for Waverly Library

In an “every-penny-counts” campaign, every little bit makes a big difference.

That was the case over the weekend when 9-year-old Ethan Holbert raised $1,652 with his lemonade stand for the Garnet A. Wilson Library’s building campaign.

Ethan’s lemonade stand gained support as the afternoon his campaign continued throughout the day Saturday. Photos courtesy Amanda Holbert via Facebook.

Natosha Massie, Director of the library told Litter Media “Ethan’s an avid reader. He and his mom saw the sign for our building project and said he wanted to help.”

Massie says the library has been working towards a goal of $3.4 million and over the last few years has managed to raise $1.1 million. The pandemic has slowed fundraising efforts, but Massie hopes Holbert’s event will help re-energize the campaign. “He raised it all in just five hours work… it’s pretty amazing!”

The library purchased three acres of land behind the Waverly Kroger and the Pike County Service Center along Ohio 335 to be closer to Bristol Village for its residents. That’s where Holbert saw the sign which led to an inquiry by his mother Amanda to ask how they could help.

Mayor Greg Kempton waived the permit for Ethan to set up a tent and sell lemonade, which drew the interest of many passersby, including Kempton and the Waverly Police Department. By the end of the day, he Holbert had a sizable donation for the library.

9-year-old Ethan Holbert with Waverly Mayor Greg Kempton. Photo courtesy Amanda Holbert.

Ethan’s mother, Amanda said he though he might get $200 and was astonished with the final tally. “We are very proud of him. The fundraiser definitely exceeded our expectations!”

Earlier this year, the National Endowment for Humanities offered a matching grant to the library for the building project, which is great news. Massie says the library needs to raise $900,000 to receive the match. Unfortunately, the timing of the matching grant offer doesn’t permit back-dating the fundraising and only includes about $30,000 of the monies already raised. But the mission continues.

Massie was named Director in January of 2020, then came the pandemic. It’s been a long 18-month wait to resume promotion of the campaign… and a Saturday afternoon under a roadside tent by a Waverly Elementary student may be just the kickstart the campaign needed.

An excited Holbert shared his story with the congregation at Morgantown CCCU Sunday morning “At the library, they have a thermometer for totaling the money” said Holbert “and now they’ve got more”.