Lynbrook village board honors Our Lady of Peace students for dedicating lemonade stand to fighting cancer

Two boys were recognized at the Village of Lynbrook board of trustees meeting on Oct. 15 for their Stand Up for Cancer lemonade stand that they have been organizing every September for the past four years.

Carson and Cole Giacopelli’s parents agreed to let them have a lemonade stand and sell lemonade in 2014 under one condition — all of the proceeds go to a charity of their choice. The boys then decided to raise money for a pediatric cancer organization because they attended Our Lady of Peace with Mary Pinto, an eighth-grader who was suffering from a bone cancer that mainly affects children and young adults. The Giacopellis began their first lemonade stand fundraiser that September, and Pinto died a few months later.

The boys continue to host their Stand Up for Cancer lemonade stand every September, and have netted more than $10,000 for various cancer organizations and for the Mary Pinto Scholarship Fund at Our Lady of Peace.

The boys presented a check of $500 to Geri Barish, the executive director of the Hewlett House who was also being honored for her breast cancer awareness activism.

“This is what it’s all about — the next generation,” Barish said through tears after she was surprised with the check.