A nine-year-old Detroit boy has been honored for showcasing his spirit of service and commitment to the community at such an early age when most kids love to play and hang around.
The boy Joshua Smith set up a lemonade stand outside his home in Detroit July 30 to support the city of Detroit that is going through a financial crisis. The boy collected $ 3,500 by selling lemonade, fruit punch, water and popcorn.
The money so collected will be used for maintaining parks and other monuments across the city.
Recognising the boy's initiative at such an early age, authorities from the Rosa Parks Foundation presented Smith with a $2,000 college scholarship. He was also awarded with the Spirit of Detroit Award last week.
The boy took the initiative after he got upset with the pathetic condition of his city.
"I heard the city was in crisis because the city is broke, and I was really upset," Joshua told USA Today.
The whole idea about setting up a lemonade stand to help the city came from the boy, according to parents Flynn and Rhonda Smith.
"I'm really proud of him. He wasn't asking how he can make money to buy himself something. My wife and I were talking about this earlier: Neither of us ever thought to do anything like this when we were kids," Flynn Smith told USA Today.
To make his effort a success, Joshua distributed pamphlets on the neighborhood:
"May you please help the City of Detroit. Please buy this popcorn and drinks. It's not so expensive. I didn't make it expensive so you would have to spend all your money. The money will help clean up trash on the ground and cut the grass in the parks."
Apart from that, efforts were taken by Joshua's family and friends to give publicity through facebook and other networking sites. Impressed by the boy's efforts, visitors from long distances also visited the boy's lemonade stand.
"It's not really been about the money," Rhonda Smith told Detroit Free Press. "It's been about his spirit being contagious and allowing people to know that we all can do something to change where we are. ... It's bigger than just making money for the city. It's about changing hearts and minds."
