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Youth slinging lemonade to replace stolen bikes

Kenzie and Carson's lemonade stand is helping them cover the cost of replacing their stolen bikes, every customer will also walk away with a free joke

A couple of youth are taking a bad situation and literally making lemonade. 

Last weekend, Kenzie Roberge and Carson Jalbert had a sleepover. In the excitement, they forgot to put their bikes away overnight and when the friends woke up Sunday morning, the bikes were gone. 

“I think (the boys) were a little shook. It was kind of their first lesson of seeing what people are capable of doing and it isn’t a lesson I want nine-year-olds to see,” said Brittany Roberge, Kenzie's mom.

The boys agreed to help pay for some of the cost of the bikes, which had both been bought new a couple of months ago. 

They decided on holding a lemonade stand, which will be set up this Sunday, Aug. 21 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 181 Camille St.

Lemonade, freezies and bottled water will be available for $1 each and each person will walk away with a printed joke for free. If they raise more than is needed, the cash will be donated to Sick Kids Hospital.

The bikes were taken around 3 a.m. on Aug. 14. About 20 minutes earlier, Brittany said the people who took them can be seen on security camera footage casing houses on the street. 

“Then we kept getting videos from neighbours from here all the way to the bridge of them stealing from other people while on their bikes. So (the boys) were extra upset, it was awful. It was a rough morning when they woke up and realized that,” she said. 

The theft was also reported to the police.

Through the lemonade stand, Brittany hopes they learn a few lessons. Drawing on the old idiom, they are also using the bad situation and finding something good in it.

 “It’s turning a bad situation into a positive and it’ll teach you guys that you have to work for the things that you have," Brittany told Kenzie.  "Hopefully you won’t do something like this to someone else in the future and you can see that lot of people are good.” 

With only two weeks left in the summer before Kenzie and Carson head back to school, the families have already replaced their bikes. 

"Because they’re on them 12 hours a day both families went out and got them their brand new bikes again, which isn’t exactly ideal right now for any of us because it’s school shopping and all these things. So they said let’s find a way to make some money, so we settled on a lemonade stand so they could put money towards them and help with the cost of the bikes,” she said. 

Since sharing the news about the theft and the lemonade stand, people have been really supportive.

“We’re just really happy with how many people have come forward and shown them support and understood that mistakes happen and are sad that their bikes were taken. Anyone in our neighbourhood was so sad to find out and come to our house and said ‘They’re on their bikes all the time, this is the worst kids for this to happen to.'

"Cause they’re just outdoor kids, they’re not tech kids, they’re gone all the time. I’m just happy to see them support the kids so that they know these two people that took their bikes are the outliers because most people are good,” she said.