Girl, 7, raises $15,000 to pay for mom’s headstone after starting lemonade stand

A seven-year-old girl from Alabama managed to raise an incredible $15,000 using a lemonade stand to pay for a headstone for her mom's grave.

Emouree Johnson suddenly lost her mother, Karli Bordner, on 13 March, just a few days before she would have turned 30.

Bordner was buried a few days later at the Rehobeth Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery in Guntersville, but when Emouree went to visit the grave with her grandmother, she felt like her mom was 'being left out' because the plot didn't have a proper headstone.

Emouree's grandmother, Jennifer Bordner, explained to the young girl that the family couldn't afford anything more than the metal plaque at the grave, but that wasn't going to stop Emouree.

The seven-year-old quickly came up with the idea for a lemonade stand, which started with just four lemons and cups sold for $1.

Speaking to the Jackson County Sentinel, Jennifer admitted she 'really didn't think anything' of the idea at first.

Emouree felt like her mom was being 'left out'. (CBS Evening News)

She recalled: "[Emouree] said, ‘I just want to do it to help out with my mommy’s stuff.’ And she told me to take a picture of her and put it on Facebook."

Jennifer did as Emouree requested, and word soon got out.

The young girl didn't up her prices, but generous members of the public donated extra money to help get Karli the gravestone Emouree wanted her to have.

“The most that we got from one cup of lemonade was $300,” Emouree told the Sentinel.

Customers arrived in the masses to buy lemonade, and as word continued to spread a monument company offered to donate a headstone for Karli's plot for free.

With a total of $15,000 raised through the stand, the money will now help to offset the costs of the funeral and support the family in the wake of Karli's death. The mom did not have insurance when she died.

Emouree was in shock over the support for her mom. (CBS Evening News)

“Everybody has come,” Jennifer said. “We collected the money for her headstone, but now they are donating that. I tried to let everybody know, but they keep bringing stuff for Emouree to help take care of her.”

In a post on Facebook, Jennifer shared her thanks to everyone who has donated.

“Your kindness generosity love for Emouree her mother’s funeral is paid and the headstone is being donated thanks to everyone," she wrote.

"I have never experienced something so amazing a gift from God for Emouree. This has been an amazing blessing I can’t say thank you enough."

Those looking to support Karli's family can still do so via a GoFundMe page.

Topics: Community, US News, Money, Food and Drink

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.