Each season, Girls on the Run teams complete a Community Impact Project- an opportunity for girls to identify a need in their community and work together to make a difference.

For the Girls on the Run team in Lake Mills, that meant thinking about how they could help their own neighbors. The girls learned about The Mill, the district-wide food pantry that provides food and essential items to more than 30 families in the Lake Mills community. They decided to host a lemonade stand and donate the proceeds to help stock the pantry.

The girls took a simple idea and turned it into something much bigger.

Instead of setting a price for each cup, the team invited people to pay what they wished. The community showed up in a big way, and the girls raised nearly $500 to donate to The Mill.

“We decided to donate to The Mill to help our neighbors,” shared Cora Dobbins, a fifth grader on the team. “We thought of the idea to do a lemonade stand because we thought that the money could help pay for the items they weren't getting by donation.”

Cora said she was especially grateful for how generous the community was.

“Lots of people like lemonade and people who came to the stand were very generous,” she said. “I'm glad we could help The Mill as much as we did.”

The impact of the girls’ generosity will extend far beyond their lemonade stand. According to Heather Vogts Dobbins, an advisor with the district’s Interact student service organization, The Mill relies on community partners and donations to keep its shelves stocked.

“It is truly wonderful that our own student group Girls on the Run was so thoughtful to run a lemonade stand to donate proceeds in order to support The Mill,” Heather shared. “With the money they raised, we are able to continue to put food on the table for over 30 district families that we serve. We're so proud of the girls for what they're doing for the community.”

The Mill was so grateful for the girls’ generosity that the organization rounded their donation up to $500 and recognized the team as Silver Level donors for the year.

For the Lake Mills girls, the project was about more than raising money. It was about noticing a need, coming up with an idea, and realizing that they had the power to help.

That’s the heart of a Girls on the Run Community Impact Project: girls discovering that even a small idea can make a big difference.