Crestline student raises money for breast cancer research in memory of her aunt

Lilly Papapietro’s lemonade stand money jar filled with cash so quickly that she had to start storing it in her apron. Before long, she had raised $1,364 for breast cancer research.

Lilly, a rising fifth-grader at Crestline Elementary, had seen the affects of breast cancer firsthand that week. She had planned the stand for Saturday, June 13 knowing that her aunt Carolina Higginbotham’s stage 4 cancer had become more aggressive since spring break.

“I don’t want to live in a world with cancer,” Lilly said of her motivation for the stand.

That Wednesday, Higginbotham passed away at age 40, and her funeral was scheduled for the Monday after the lemonade stand. But Lilly decided the stand would go on.

She used her own money to buy a pink tablecloth, pink cups and other decorations to serve lemonade and counted out quarters at the cash register. Lilly made a poster with her aunt’s photo and tied popcorn bags with pink ribbon to go with the lemonade, which of course was pink too. That day she set up shop in front of her dad Mauricio’s restaurant, Brick & Tin in Mountain Brook Village.

“We felt like this it was a ray of sunshine in all of this sadness,” Susan said. “I think there is a lot of power to a child getting involved in this.”

Lilly didn’t charge a specific price for her goods but simply asked for a donation. Many who came by skipped the lemonade and just donated money. Higginbotham’s parents, husband and son were among those who came.

“It got everyone out in memory of [Carolina],” Susan said. “We were so proud of [Lily]. It was all her idea.”

Susan has long known Camper O’Neal, whose mom Dolly started the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama, so the decision of where to give the $1,364 Lilly raised was easy knowing they wanted the research money to stay local.

When Susan contacted the BCRFA about passing on the donation, they invited her to come to their board meeting later that week to present it, and she did just that.

Lilly has held other lemonade stands in the past and sometimes donates money to her church, St. Stephen’s Episcopal.

“It feels like I’m making my own business,” she said.

She also enjoys running and participates in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure each fall.