Residents of Ohio Living Dorothy Love pose for a photo with Jax Gephart during a trip to the store earlier this month. Gephart bought ice cream for residents with proceeds from a lemonade stand.
Courtesy photo
By Kimberly Pistone
For the Sidney Daily News
SIDNEY — Jax Gephart is an 11-year-old with a heart for others. This summer Jax decided to host a lemonade stand, with a percentage of the proceeds going to Ohio Living Dorothy Love for the residents to do something fun.
Jax donated $85, which allowed for 15 residents to go to K&J’s Ice Cream.
“It’s been a long time since my residents have gotten out of the building, and they were very excited about it,” Avery Howell, the Activity Director at Ohio Living Dorothy Love, said.
Jax sold lemonade and cookies. He and his mom made three chip cookies together. Jax’s lemonade stand had a lot of customers — classmates, families and neighbors — even a mail driver stopped by to contribute.
Jax wanted to be sure his older brother, Cash, received credit for helping with the stand, too.
When asked about why he decided to donate his earnings to the residents, Jax said, “I figured that one day I will be an old man and I would want someone to do that for me.”
Jax said he met a lot of people during the ice cream social at K&J’s. Two of the most memorable people included a 100 year-old lady who only needed a walking cane — a feat Jax felt was very impressive, and a veteran who loved telling stories and was also a great listener.
Carmen Gephart, Jax’s mom, said Jax has a good, big heart, and is full of personality. She said, “He is that kid you know that is a little ornery, but you can’t help but love him.”
Jax plans to become an architect and to go to MIT. He has done the research to know he has to get at least a 3.8 GPA and is working to reach that goal.
Jax said he enjoyed hanging out with the residents, and has been invited to play Bingo with them at Ohio Living Dorothy Love. He is already thinking about his next lemonade stand fundraiser and would like to raise enough money to take the residents to lunch or dinner.
