A heartbroken child decided to open up a lemonade stand to raise money to pay for her mother’s headstone after she unexpectedly died last month.
Emouree Johnson, 7, opened her stand on Friday and raised nearly $10,000 in honor of her late mother, Karli Bordner, 29, who died suddenly in March.
As news spread around Scottsboro, Alabama, and on social media, people from all over came out to support her.
Emouree sold each cup for $1 and also received heartfelt tips from firefighters, neighbors, nurses and police officers in her hometown.
‘I didn’t know that just by making a little lemonade would bring this many people,’ Emouree told WAFF.
Emouree Johnson, 7, started her very own lemonade stand on Friday and raised nearly $10,000 for her late mother’s headstone
Her mother, Karli Bordner, died suddenly in March. It is unclear how she passed
When asked where she got her worth ethic from, Emouree said: ‘my mamma,’ as she stood behind a table on her lawn and filled cup after cup with lemonade for the community.
‘Emouree is so special, if you haven’t figured it out,’ her grandmother Jennifer Bordner said.
It is unclear how Karli died, but a funeral was held for the mother on March 18 at Rudder Funeral Home, according to her obituary.
A GoFundMe page was also created in honor of Karli, and as of Sunday afternoon, it has raised more than $4,000 and described her as a ‘loving mother, daughter, sister and cousin.’
Jennifer posted several pictures of her daughter with Emouree on her Facebook page as friends and family flooded her comments with condolences and heartfelt messages.
‘I love that girl … She was such a joy to be around,’ one person said.
Another person said: ‘I’m carrying you in my heart!’
Emouree sold each cup for $1 and also received heartfelt tips from firefighters, neighbors, nurses and police officers in her hometown of Scottsboro, Alabama. (pictured: her and her mother)
‘Emouree is so special, if you haven’t figured it out,’ her grandmother Jennifer Bordner said
In one post Emouree was seen at a cemetery as she smiled with flowers all around her.
‘Thank you all so much for the love you showed our Karli Bordner. RIP my angel,’ Jennifer said.
In another post, Emouree was seen with her arms wrapped around her mother as she smiled.
Jennifer said: ‘Karli I hope you can see what your beautiful baby is doing! All the love and help from everyone! We love and miss you so much!’
As she served residents in town, she posed for pictures with firefighters, who even let her test out the hose and wear one of their helmets. A motorcycle group also visited her stand and let her hop on one of the bikes as she posed for a picture.
Emouree’s lemonade stand has gotten so much attention that multiple monument companies have reached out and offered to cover the cost of her mother’s headstone.
In one post Emouree was seen at a cemetery as she smiled with flowers all around her
As she served residents in town, she posed for pictures with firefighters, who even let her test out the hose and wear one of their helmets
The money raised at the stand is now set to go toward other costs =the family has endured during this hard time.
‘I’ve just been amazed. Cried happy tears,’ Jennifer said.
Emouree said she knows her mother would be proud of her as her grandmother said the young girl fully understands the loss of her mother.
‘Yeah. She would say I’m doing good,’ Emouree said.
‘Like she knows that mommy is ok now. She knows that she’s going to be ok, and everybody cares and loves her,’ Jennifer said.
‘All these people showing all this and trying to help, it’s actually helping heal the whole family.’