ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – With the summer heat beating down in West Texas, two Abilene boys opened their lemonade stand for the second year. However, all of their profits aren’t going in their pockets, but to families who need that money most. 

As you walk down the sidewalk on North 2nd Street in Downtown Abilene, you may walk by some construction and the water feature next to Monk’s coffee shop. But as you cross Cypress Street, on some days, you may catch a whiff of freshly made popcorn.

Towards the children’s boutique, Magnolia and Oak, two young boys are sitting there, shouting, “Free lemonade, free popcorn!”

During the string of 100-degree days we’ve had, nothing quite quenches your thirst like an ice-cold glass of freshly made lemonade. 7-and-a-half-year-old Knox and his 4-and-a-half-year-old brother Wyatt serves you with a smile.

However, they only request a donation to one local nonprofit close to their hearts: Stick Horses and Capes.

“We’re doing it for Stick Horses and Capes,” said Knox. “It’s an organization that helps parents who unexpectedly lost a child.”

Stick Horses and Capes was started in 2019, after founder and president Shelley Pinkston lost her son Hayes in a UTV accident in 2018.

“It’s grown more than we could have ever imagined, and we’ve helped over 60 families at this point,” Pinkston took pride.

The nonprofit uses funds from donations, such as Knox and Wyatt’s lemonade stand, to help relieve the financial burden grieving families are facing.

“The financial assistance that we give is just to be able to help pay for a funeral and mortgages, your light bill, to make memories with your favorite people, just to be able to sneak away if you need to just escape,” explained Pinkston.

But why do Knox and Wyatt help out?

“Because we get to cheer them up,” Wyatt delighted.

Pinkston said the boys’ efforts to raise money and awareness is invaluable to the growth of their organization.

“Donors are coming out and wanting to give and be a part of these families’ walks,” added Pinkston. “To have two little boys that are learning to do good for others is pretty heartwarming.”

Since Knox first opened the lemonade stand last year, they have raised more than $2,000 collectively for Stick Horses and Capes. That doesn’t include the $100+ they raised Tuesday.

While the boys aren’t always outside their parents’ store because they have recently moved, they’ve been able to expand their lemonade stand to DFW and Houston, and they will be coming back to Abilene on Saturdays, August 26 and September 16. They will be outside the boutique with big smiles and cold lemonade.