Osoyoos youngster Kingston Rose, 8 (forefront) had great success selling lemonade outside his grandmother’s house in Osoyoos on Wednesday. Kingston ended up raising $520 over two days, which he donated to the Canadian Red Cross. A total of $400 more was donated and that was matched by the owner of the Save on Foods grocery store in Princeton. Kingston and his mother purchased seven grocery carts full of groceries, which were donated to firefighters and wildfire evacuees.  Stopping in for a cup of ice-cold lemonade last week were Willow MacDonald and her three children (from left) Aria, 9, Ivy, 3, and Bronson, 11. Pleased with his success, Rose was back with his lemonade stand on Thursday. (Keith Lacey photo)

An Osoyoos boy became an instant celebrity and has garnered plenty of attention after donating all of the proceeds from a lemonade stand he set up in Osoyoos last week to assist firefighters and wildfire evacuees.

Kingston Rose, 8, donated hundreds of dollars he raised from selling lemonade outside his grandmother’s house in Osoyoos and donated every penny to assist victims of wildfires raging across B.C.

A total of $520 was raised the two days the lemonade stand was opened and response from the community was so strong, residents donated another $400.

Kingston turned over the $520 to the Canadian Red Cross.

When the owner of the Save On Foods grocery store in Princeton heard about Rose’s good deeds, he contacted Kingston’s family and offered to add $400.

Kingston and his mother Shelby Rose made the trip to an evacuation centre set up in Princeton on Sunday to officially donate the additional $400 that had been donated.

When the Save on Foods owner matched that figure, Kingston decided to spend all $800 to purchase food for firefighters and evacuees.

The grocery store owner gave Kingston a 25 per cent discount on all food he purchased and he managed to fill seven shopping carts full of groceries during his shopping spree.

When Kingston found out his good chum Talon Lowton, also age 8, had done something positive to raise awareness about the huge wildfires that have swept apart large parts of B.C., he knew he had to do his part.

Last Wednesday, Kingston asked members of his family to help him set up a lemonade stand.

The stand was set up on Gravenstein Drive, outside his grandmother Rose Zandvliet’s home.

Business was booming all day Wednesday as he had raised more than $200. He was so excited by what happened on Wednesday, Kingston decided to set up his lemonade stand once again on Thursday and raised more cash.

“He ended up filling up seven grocery carts … two of them were used to feed firefighters and the other five carts were used to feed people who have been evacuated and staying at the emergency centre,” said Kingston’s proud mother.

As of Tuesday morning, more than 40,000 B.C. residents had been evacuated from their homes across the province as more than 160 wildfires burned out of control.

The entire city of Williams Lake – with more than 10,000 residents – were evacuated this past weekend.

Kingston said he couldn’t believe the overwhelming response he has received in Osoyoos and Princeton since opening his lemonade stand.

“Talon is my friend and when I found out what he was doing, I also wanted to do something to help,” said Kingston. “I had never done a lemonade stand before and when I asked my grandma, my mom and my auntie, they all said they would help me.”

Last Tuesday, Talon introduced the “Butt Bottle”, during a stop at the Osoyoos RCMP detachment.

The plastic bottles, which are filled with water, were designed to be easily accessible for drivers and passengers who smoke.

Instead of throwing cigarette butts out the window and potentially starting another forest fire, the Butt Bottle encourages smokers to discard their butts in the bottle.

Only an hour after he set up his lemonade stand, Kingston was kept very busy as he had several people waiting in line to purchase lemonade.

“I had four people waiting in line … that was cool,” he said.

His family purchased cookies, which were handed out for all those helping the good cause by purchasing a cup of ice-cold lemonade.

When asked if he was proud of himself for helping a very worthy cause, Kingston just smiled and shook his head in the affirmative.

Kingston thanked his mother, Aunt Shy-Anne Piche and his other grandmother Maureen Flaxmeier, along with Zandvliet, for helping him prepare the lemonade, setting up the stand and offering support.

Rose said her son possesses a very generous soul, despite his tender years.

“He is so kind-hearted,” she said. “He never really expected things to take off the way they did … and expected to maybe raise $100. This goes to show how great the people of Osoyoos are.”

She also thanked Save On Foods in Princeton for their generosity and support.

With all of the attention and long hours working at the lemonade stand, Kingston was a tired boy on Monday, she said.

“He’s been on the go for five days straight and he’s exhausted,” she said. “He slept until 10:30 on Monday morning, which he never does.”

Rose thanked every local resident who helped turn her son into a local hero for a few days.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times