Indian Hill families raise more than $77K with lemonade stand for Children's Hospital

INDIAN HILL, Ohio —

A family in Indian Hill has raised more than $77,000 this year for Children's Hospital, all thanks to a lemonade stand.

The Zerbe and Weidner families started raising money every year with a lemonade stand outside their Indian Hill home.

Since the project was started years ago — it has raised more than $300,000 for the hospital.

It all began when the Zerbe boys decided to set up a lemonade stand outside their Indian Hill home. They invited the Weidner family and their three kids to join in on the fun. In their first year, the kids raised $148.

Moms Amanda Zerbe and Hillary Weidner decided to teach their kids about generosity and decided to donate the money to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Children's Hospital holds a special place in the lives of the Weidners. Their oldest daughter, Beatrice, has spent countless hours within its walls after receiving a kidney transplant at just 6 months old. Hillary Weidner was her donor. Beatrice Weidner is now in first grade and her mom says she is thriving. To thank Children's Hospital for the care they gave Beatrice, the moms donated the $148 and asked social media to help match their kids' earnings.

In a matter of days, friends, celebrities and strangers helped to raise more than $200,000.

Last year, during the pandemic, the kids still managed to raise $10,000 from their lemonade stand and virtual fundraiser.

This year, their goal was to raise $20,000 and they far exceeded that by raising over $77,000.

"It's crazy," Hillary Weidner said. "I mean, it's just, there's no amount of money that we can ever raise to acquaint what we have received from the hospital. So, even if we could donate 45 million, it wouldn't even touch how much that we feel indebted to them."

-Meredith Stutz