WYOMING, Ohio – People set up an old-fashioned lemonade stand Sunday to raise money for immigrants and refugees in the United States.
The group Heartfelt Tidbits has been raising money for the past 10 years. They say the recent news from the border - with children being separated from their parents - prompted them to act.
“We've had a tremendous outpouring from local citizens as well as businesses and churches sending us donations,” said Cheryl Rajbhandari of HeartFelt Tidbits.
Rajbhandari says recent deportations have been family breadwinners. The money raised - about $2,200 - will goes toward the family left back in the U.S. as well as legal fees.
“We want to do what we can to help them," said Joan Callahan, an Ohio mother. She and her daughter, Katie, baked goods to sell.
“We can't really fly to Texas and help out in a border town, but we can do this little thing to help out others," Callahan said.
As a mother, Callahan said she feels for immigrant parents who have been separated from their children at the border in recent months.
“It makes me feel sick. It's really hard to talk about it,” Callahan said. “I haven't really shown them the videos or pictures of those situations, but we've talked about it a lot.
“I can't imagine being one of the parents who've had their child taken away from them."
Local immigration attorney Joseph Spring came out to the sale. Hundreds of his clients were recently detained at the border.
“I would say that everybody has a right to apply for asylum in the United States if they have a fear to return their home country," Spring said.
