When summer’s heat becomes too much to bear, a glass of iced lemonade is a welcome relief, but what tens of thousands across Ohio have learned is that lemonade can provide a different sort of relief as well.
For 8 years, children’s lemonade stands pop up all over the city in July as part of an annual fundraiser that has to date channeled $5 million worth of gifts and necessities to children facing economic hardship, or prolonged stays in the hospital battling illness.
It all began with Payton Obert’s hope that she could raise money through a lemonade stand to get toys into the hands of children in hospital, a simple act of support that she herself benefitted from immensely when she received a teddy bear from a charity that works with children’s hospitals.
The teddy helped her through a difficult time at just 18 months old, and she kept it close ever after. When she turned 8, she began to feel like she too could support children facing hardship, and so started Payton’s Lemonade Stand. She raised $768 in 2018, all of which went towards purchasing toys for other kids.
As summer of 2019 came around, Obert decided to again put up the stand. This time, however, the proceeds multiplied tenfold compared to the year before, courtesy of community interest in her endeavor around her home city of Cincinnati.
In 2020, as COVID-19 and the resulting lockdowns and mandated business closures imposed hardship on millions, the now 10-year-old Obert expanded her lemonade stand through the launch of Payton’s Pals, a charity-powered network that saw 8 lemonade stands go up around Cincinnati and Kentucky that together raised $35,000 in cash and toy donations.
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A year later Payton’s Lemonade Stand became the nation’s newest registered 501(c)3, which organized 100 young people to set up 30 lemonade stands for the purpose of channeling community support and resources to children in need in the state and beyond.
The nonprofit cashed $60,000 on the big day, $80,000 the year after, $100,000 in 2023, and $125,000 in 2024, all while accumulating more and more community support from fire departments, schools, Girl Scouts of America troops, local businesses, sports teams, and others.
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Long gone are the days where help only arrives in the form of a teddy bear to a child in a hospital bed. Payton’s Lemonade Stand provides assistance to children and their families, struggling in Cincinnati and across the nation, for any reason. They still distribute toys, but also food, clothing, books, and school supplies.
In 2025, 100 lemonade stands were erected across Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, which together raised $150,000 in just 3 hours with Payton’s Lemonade Stands turning into Payton’s Lemonade Fairs in many instances. The 2026 edition raised $170,000, with stands opening up in West Virginia, Baltimore, and New Mexico.
WATCH Payton tell the story in her own words…
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