Two 10-year-old girls, Lily and Lauren are starting a hot chocolate and churro stand to raise money for Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), a Texas-based nonprofit “that provides free and low-cost legal services to undocumented families,” Remezcla reports.
The girls’ stand is a response to a viral story about 7-year-old Benton Stevens, who set up a hot chocolate stand in Austin, Texas to collect money for the border wall. According to Remezcla, some outlets called him “little Hitler,” which publicized his story and its hateful message—and unfortunately, increased the number of donations he received.
So when 10-year-old Lily Ellis heard about Benton’s hot chocolate stand, she decided to do the same thing to raise money for children and parents who remain separated because of Trump’s nasty immigration policies. She also decided to open the stand with her best friend Lauren.
“I appreciate what he did and liked his idea, so I’m gonna do it, too, and try to raise even more money to push back on that wall,” Lily said, according to a statement.
Lauren also shared why it’s important for them to collect money for RAICES. “This is important to me because no child should be separated from their parents or loved ones especially when they come to our country for a better life,” she said, adding. “This is not what we stand for and everyone should be given a chance to live peacefully.”
Lily and Lauren will be selling Mexican hot chocolate and churros (Lauren’s family runs Jenny’s Churros) on Sunday, Feb. 24 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. The stand will be located at Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley, California. The girls will also be accompanied by the Grammy-nominated kids hip-hop group that Lily is part of, the Alphabet Rockers.
