When my agency was pitching the California Avocado business this past May, I surfed around other retailer sites for inspiration on how to connect with consumers. I came across this great promotion on the Sunkist website. They have a program where they send out some huge number of lemonade stands for free to children who want to run them for charity.

I thought, "Hey! What a great way to get the kids involved in Raising Malawi!" And then I got a call from my sister-in-law Nancy who told me a really decent little cardboard stand arrived at the house.

Actually, I'm jumping ahead. I waited till my trip to Atlanta to talk to Luke and Matt about it. I sat with Luke on my lap to type in a request. I had just shown him and Matt my video from my trip to Africa. I explained that a lot of the kids I met are orphans -- their moms and dads died because they couldn't get medicine.

And now the kids are left to fend for themselves -- maybe go live with their nana. But they don't get much food or water and sometimes can't even afford to go to school. Luke, age 8, was quiet. Thoughtful. I went on, "It's actually pretty bad, Luke. A lot of children die from malaria. And you know, all they need is a net to put over their beds at night and they won't get sick like that."

He sat on my lap to answer the lemonade stand application. It asked, "Why do you want a lemonade stand? What is your charitable cause?" He wrote, "so the kids don't have to die from mosquito bites anymore."

It's really that simple.

And let me add, I love my sister-in-law so much!! She's got four kids on her hands and promised me she'd help get this thing running. She told the kids to go knocking on doors, asking peole to come out and have some lemonade to help the orphans in Malawi. The kids had it priced at 10 cents a glass! (ugh!). Lots of kids came, but ... well...at 10 cents a person, we made about 2 bucks for the cause.

Won't you PLEASE buy a BIG glass of lemonade from these children so they can make a nice donation to the orphanage in Malawi? Just click on the link at the top that says "Donate" and let me know how much and I'll pass on the good word to Luke, Matt, Jacob and Lauren.

Thank you!