An 11-year-old Texas girl who tragically lost her father to cancer is now awaiting the arrival of a headstone to honor his memory that she purchased herself after raising nearly $3,000 with her own lemonade stand.
Kaylee Hernandez, of Lubbock, said she had long hoped to properly mark her beloved father’s gravesite but that her family had been unable to afford a headstone after his death nearly two years ago.
“He was a present father,” Hernandez told KCBD, speaking to one of many local news outlets about her dad, Ricky Hernandez, who died after a battle with throat cancer.
“He would go to school with me, do donuts with dad and all that. He was there for me.”
When the community’s Lemonade Day event took place Saturday, Kaylee decided to take part by setting up her own stand. Located in front of Lash and Brow Studio, she was surprised to find a line had already formed before the event even began.
“My face was smiling the whole day,” she told KLBK. “I was busy. Towards the end, I was like ‘Mom. My feet hurt.’ Everyone was so nice. It was really good.”
Kaylee made twice as much lemonade as she expected while serving both strangers and familiar faces.
“A guy who was one of the first people in line knew my dad. He went to work with my dad, and I knew him from his work,” she told KCBD.
By the end of the event, Kaylee had raised nearly $3,000, which was enough to fully fund the purchase of a specialized memorial headstone. In the days following the event, Kaylee and her mother went to Resthaven Funeral Home and placed the order for the headstone, which is expected to arrive in six to nine weeks.
Kaylee said that while her booming lemonade stand was sometimes difficult to manage at times, meeting community members who showed up to support her and help her reach her goal made the effort worthwhile.
“He saw people showing up for him,” she told KCBD, “I did it, but it was for him. He saw people who care for him and me. It was good.”
