DENVER – The outpouring of support for three Denver boys who had the police called on them for a charity Memorial Day lemonade stand continues, as they’ve received thousands of dollars at their GoFundMe page and have a local business helping them as well.
The GoFundMe page that Jennifer Knowles started for her young boys Tuesday evening reached its $912 goal by Wednesday night, and by Thursday afternoon was $1,591 toward reaching its new goal of $1,824.
Knowles started the GoFundMe page after someone called the police on the boys for their lemonade stand on Memorial Day, which they were hoping to use to raise money to sponsor children in need in other countries through the charity Compassion International.
The boys had set up their lemonade stand across the street from their house in Stapleton, but there also happened to be an outdoor art show with drink vendors operating nearby. Knowles told Denver7 earlier this week she believes someone from the art show called the police on her boys.
But the GoFundMe money isn’t the only way people have stepped up to help the boys in the charity quest.
A neighbor of the boys’ posted on Facebook he wanted to help them with a donation, and the Chick-fil-A on Quebec in Stapleton has offered to donate 10 percent of their lemonade sales on June 1 to the boys’ fundraiser.
And though a Denver permitting spokesperson said the city generally doesn’t enforce permit requires for a one-off lemonade stand like the boys set up, most other food and drink vendors do need one.
Meanwhile, the Denver Police Department wrote on its Facebook page Wednesday its version of the events.
“We don’t go out of our way to enforce matters of this nature and in this instance, our actions were complaint driven,” the department wrote. “When officers receive a complaint, we have an obligation to act.”