The Rev. Mark Teike, back right, poses with the Freeman family after the presentation of the first annual Mark Teike Good Neighbor Award to their children known for their charitable work as the Lemonade Bros.
Photo provided
The Lemonade Bros’ signature success continues to get sweeter and sweeter.
The trio of siblings known for their homemade drink sales to help others such as sick children and more have earned yet another honor. And in the wake of it, the youngsters and their parents are talking not about themselves, but the need of others such as the homeless.
Again.
The brothers — Kimale Freeman, 14, Jonathan Jones, 9, and 7-year-old Jacob Jones — were recently presented with the first annual Mark Teike Good Neighbor Award. The honor is named for the recently retired St. Peter’s Lutheran Church pastor who, with the help of others at the church, built a strong relationship with St. Peter’s dating to the neighborhood center’s beginnings in 1994.
Randy Allman, executive director of Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Center, explained the award.
“Mark Teike has a heart for the Lincoln-Central Neighborhood,” Allman said. “He has unselfishly loved, served, listened, learned, prayed for, hoped, sought, and championed this neighborhood.
“Mark is about doing for others and his positive example is one we enjoy recognizing in our neighbors.
“The Lemonade Bros give unselfishly to this community with the proceeds from their lemonade stand. Our community is better because of Mark Teike and it’s better because of the Lemonade Bros. It’s the LCNFC’s honor to recognize these two young men making a positive difference.”
Teike himself is impressed with the honorees.
“They really seem to get it,” Teike said of their heart to use their proceeds for the sake of others. “And I’m also really impressed with their parents, and I think they’re doing such a great job.”
The youngsters have used their lemonade stand proceeds to feed Columbus Regional Hospital and Columbus Police Department crews, raised $1,200 for The Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health, and much more. Late last year, they earned one of The Council for Youth Development’s 2023 Ignite Your Spark — Spark Spirit Awards.
The local American Legion Post No. 24 also recognized their work.
“This feels great,” Jonathan Jones said of the latest recognition.
“It’s an honor to have it, ” Jacob Jones said.
Kimale Freeman agreed.
“This is something that, years from now, we can look back on this first-ever award and know that we helped people,” he said.
Yet the trio and their parents, Columbus residents Corneshia Freeman and Will Joseph, hardly are looking back just yet. In fact, they’re looking forward to their next effort — a mobile stand to more easily set up at a range of locations and events. The idea? Give them more options to raise money to help the struggling with everything from utility to grocery bills.
That cost for the mobile stand will be $12,000. A public fundraising campaign is expected to begin next week on a website expected to be launched then: lemonadebros.org, which is currently unoccupied.
Mom is understandably proud of the trio. But she said that her children are full of new ideas.
“Oh, we haven’t done anything yet,” she said. “I have told the boys that we have to take baby steps. But they have ultimate dreams of one day even having a storefront location.”
