Founded by Erin, Fourth & Gold officially became a 5013C non-profit organization in July 2022. Much of the team is lead by healthcare professionals that are on the frontlines of oncological practice, helping children and their families battle cancer everyday.
Slow down. Take it all in. If you’re fortunate enough, they won’t be this young forever. Did you read that? If you’re fortunate enough, they won’t be this young forever. “Stop Growing up!” The phrase that almost everyone says if they know a little one that turned 5 before they could blink twice. A phrase you don’t ever think about… unless your child did stop growing up. This phrase meant nothing to me, either. I said it all the time. My nieces have grown up faster than I ever thought possible, and every birthday I would find myself saying “Stop growing up! I wish you could stay (insert age) forever!!” But the reality is.. if my nieces stayed 7 forever, that would bring a lot of pain and grief. That would mean they were forever 7. Not a feeling I or anyone else wants to experience.
I don’t even have children yet, but since I became a pediatric oncology nurse, this phrase makes me look at life in a whole new perspective. I’ve been a first hand witness to children who are forever 3 or 5 or 7. Forever young. Their families would do anything to be able to witness their child growing up. They would do anything to have one more bad day. One more sleepless night. One more day filled with their child’s attitude. They would do anything it took, if that meant one more day with their forever 3 year old.
I’m thankful that God set my heart on fire for childhood oncology. I’ve learned more lessons and felt more emotions from fighting children and their families than I’ve ever learned in my entire life. You see, when you’re in a line of work like mine, you learn new lessons every single day. You learn the strength of the human body and spirit in ways you never knew existed. You celebrate hours of life, honestly, sometimes seconds. You dance for praise reports, but also mourn in times of grief. It’s often on my drive home that I do the most reflecting. When everything is quiet and it just hits you like a ton of bricks. The happiness… and the sadness too.
Witnessing a child growing up can be very much emotional for anyone, but it’s not a bad thing. It’s actually, very beautiful. Perhaps instead of saying “stop growing up”, we could be telling ourselves to stop missing them growing up. Remind ourselves to stop and pay attention to these moments. Every smile. Every laugh and every tantrum. Because if you’re fortunate enough… they won’t be this young forever.
If you’re interested in hosting a stand or sponsoring our campaign, reach out to us using this contact form, and a team member will contact you directly.
***This is not our sign up form to receive a kit and host a stand!***
If you’re looking to host your own Lucy’s Lemonade Stand, filling out the form does not sign you up! Once we receive your form submission, we’ll communicate with you directly and send you a link to sign up for your stand.
1.) If you are looking to host a stand during our September campaign, stand sign ups will run June 1 through June 30th every year. We’ll ask for the date(s) you plan to host your stand in September, as well as your location, so we can help promote it and drive traffic your way. In August, we’ll send out stand kits. If you’re local to Jacksonville, we’ll host a meetup where you can pick up your kit in person.
2.) If you are looking to host a stand during our September campaign but missed our sign-up window – no worries! We order extra kits every year, so reach out to us and we will do our best to accommodate you as supplies last.
3.) If you are looking to host a stand outside of our September campaign, that is a possibility as well, depending on the amount of extra supplies remaining. Please reach out to us anytime and we will do our best to provide you with everything you need to host a stand any time of year!
Each host receives a kit designed to make your experience easy and impactful, along with a PDF guide containing everything needed to host a successful – and fun – lemonade stand. Your kit will be packed with lemonade mix, cups, straws, signage, and more. Our goal is to equip you with everything you need to raise awareness and support for pediatric cancer research. All you need to do is set up, mix the lemonade, and help spread the word.
