A pint-sized Plum Area School District student put her grief to good use Saturday with an on-the-spot charity event to raise money for victims of the house explosion in Plum.

Emmy Halasowski, 7, was understandably shaken and scared Saturday as events unfolded after the deadly explosion on Rustic Ridge Drive in Plum that killed five people.

“I always wanted to have a lemonade stand. It made me happy to help,” said Emmy, a second grader at Pivik Elementary School.

Emmy and her friends in The Highlands neighborhood organized the lemonade stand just an hour after the fatal explosion.

“She was very concerned because she could see the smoke, she heard the explosion, and there were a lot of questions,” said her mother, Christy Halasowski, who teaches at Pivik. “I told her when things like this happen, the only thing we can do is try and help in some way.”

A handwritten “4 RUSTIC RIDGE” sign advertised the event, held at the corner of Stirling Drive and Muirfield Court.

Tents, chairs and tables were set up and brownies, cookies and lots of lemonade were sold for four hours.

The young lemonade ladies donated a total of $1,183 Sunday to the president of the Rustic Ridge Homeowners Association.

As of Tuesday, several hundred more dollars had been donated.

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“I feel really proud of myself and I’m really glad we did this,” Emmy said. “And we raised a ton of money for other people.”

The moms pitched in, mixing up large batches of lemonade.

“It was actually a little bit of a therapy session for the adults,” Christy Halasowski said. “We were together, still not knowing what was going on and who was affected.”

Nico Lapiana, 13, lives along Stirling Drive and bought some lemonade for the cause.

“It was pretty good, and it’s good they did this,” Nico said.

Mallory Monroe, 9, said one customer donated $100 and another dropped in a $50 bill.

Customers included FedEx and UPS delivery drivers, friends, family and three pet guinea pigs.

“Yes, Jiggles, Bugsy and Peanut all joined us,” Halasowski said.

“Now the people will have money to get stuff they need, like food,” Mallory said.

Mia Rullo, 11, attended school with Keegan Clontz, one of the five victims killed in the explosion.

“I always like to help people,” Mia said.

In all, about 20 neighborhood kids chipped in to make the impromptu lemonade stand a success.

For Emmy, organizing her first fundraiser brought a sense of happiness during a dark time.

Help from Holiday Park

Another lemonade stand delivered results in Holiday Park.

Ava Gribbin was eager to have her own lemonade stand and her mother, Erica Gribbin, assisted in setting up shop on Sunday.

“I wanted to help the victims,” said Ava, a third grader at Pivik.

Courtesy of Erica Gibbon Ava Gribbin of Plum held a lemonade fundraiser Sunday on Ozark Drive in Holiday Park. She raised $745 for the victims of the house explosion in Plum. Ava is posing with volunteer firefighters from Unity Volunteer Fire Department.  

Ava sold lemonade and iced tea outside her home and made about $745 in four hours.

“My friend’s mom donated $50,” Ava said. “I donated all of the proceeds to Angels In DaSkys.”

It was the first lemonade stand for Ava, 8.

“I feel good about helping people,” Ava said. “It was pretty easy to do this.”

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