De Pere girl donates lemonade stand proceeds to Children's Hospital

Kendall Rybacki, 8, of De Pere writes out a big check to Children's Hospital for $1,200 -...
Kendall Rybacki, 8, of De Pere writes out a big check to Children's Hospital for $1,200 - proceeds from her lemonade stand (WBAY photo)(WBAY)
Published: Sep. 20, 2019 at 4:26 PM CDT
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Turning lemonade into love for others. That's what a De Pere girl did this summer. And on Friday, he had the opportunity to spread that love at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

It's a big day for 8-year-old Kendall Rybacki of De Pere. She, along with her parents, younger brother and grandparents are all at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Millwaukee -- not for a medical procedure but to make a donation.

"I want to help the people who are sick here and help them get better," says Kendall.

Despite never needing to be cared for at Children's, Rybacki still wanted to help others. So, late last month, she hosted an all-day lemonade stand in her west De Pere neighborhood, donating all of the proceeds to Children's Hospital.

Not only was the lemonade stand very well attended, but she raised a lot of money.

According to Kendall's mom, Jillian Rybacki, "I thought maybe a hundred dollars, two hundred dollars. I wasn't expecting what we got. So we raised a little over $1,500."

Of the money raised, Kendall wrote out a $1,200 check to Children's Hospital. "It's, like, about that huge," she said. "I told my mom this is going to be one of the best days of my life."

In addition to the money, Kendall spent about $300 of her lemonade stand proceeds on toys for kids in the hospital, too.

"We knew that there were babies here, like, little kids, older kids, so we picked all of the stuff, but in girl and boy stuff," says Kendall.

And since Children's Hospital has between 260 and 300 kids stay over every night, with another 200 to 250 kids a day seen in the Emergency Department, the money and especially the toys Kendall donated will be put to good use.

Maryanne Kessel is the Executive Director of Development for the Herma Heart Institute at Children's Hospital. She said, "Gifts like this allow us to do the little extras and create a little bit more of home environment while they're in a hospital."

After having so much success with her first lemonade stand, Kendall says she's going to keep hosting on every summer so she can continue to make donations to Children's.