A squeeze of compassion

Late in the day, Saturday, June 4, 10-year-old Colton Siracusa came to his mother with an idea. Touched by the events of Uvalde, he wanted to open a lemonade stand to raise funds for victims of the horrible event at Robb Elementary that killed 20 students and two adults.

Colton opened his lemonade stand at the corner of Victoria and Felder Street Sunday, June 5, with a goal to raise $500.

Though this isn’t his firsttime raising funds with the help of his “fresh squeezed lemonade,” as Colton described it, he felt especially touched by the tragedy that happened in Uvalde. “He is just an all-around great kid with a big heart,” stated his mother Angelica Siracusa. “I think the victims being his same age really affected him and inspired him to do this.”

His mom made a Facebook post sharing his idea, and the community showed up in drones. “I enjoyed running the stand, and it was fun to raise the money to donate to the families of Uvalde who lost their kids that day,” said the compassionate fifth-grader, who attends John C. Webb Elementary School in Navasota. “That’s why I opened the stand.”

With the help of the community, Colton surpassed his goal of $500 and raised an astonishing $1,500 for the affected families of Uvalde, with more coming in by the day. Siracusa and his mother will travel to Uvalde June 11 and 12, to hand-deliver the funds and visit the memorial.