9-Year-Old Boy’s Lemonade Stand To Pay For His Own Adoption Has Surpassed Its Goal

A nine-year-old boy who wanted to ensure he could stay with his much-loved foster mom started a lemonade stand to raise the necessary funds. He has now earned more than enough money for his cause.

The Inquisitr reported the story of young Tristan Jacobsen, the third-grade boy doing everything he could to raise enough money to stay with his foster family. Now he has achieved his goal, plus some, by selling lemonade to passersby.

Tristan Jacobson opened a lemonade stand, and the reason may surprise you… https://t.co/3Adn45VE6v pic.twitter.com/JtLLOqJwAh

— OpportunityLives (@OppLives) April 26, 2016

Young Tristan has moved the hearts of residents in Springfield, Missouri, after launching a lemonade stall outside his home. His reasoning was different from most youngsters, who might want to raise the money to buy a new bike or a new video game. What he was aiming for is to raise enough cash for his foster mom, Donnie Davis, to adopt him.

When Tristan first started his part of the family’s yard sale, Davis told Today Parents, “I have been in utter shock that any of this had happened.”

“Other than being in shock, it is so heartwarming to see people react to my little boy, especially like this. I know that he is able to see that people care about him other than his mom and dad and it is just amazing.”

In just the first two days, Tristan earned $6,500 selling bottles of lemonade for a dollar each, while in her section of the yard sale, his foster mom raised around $600. This is more than enough to cover the $5,000 adoption fee, but this is not all.

The family also started a fundraising page in the same cause, which has raised an amazing $22,070 of its original $5,000 goal. According to Davis, any additional funds earned either by selling lemonade or the fundraising page will be put towards Tristan’s future education.

Don’t miss – at 6:24, an update on Tristan Jacobson’s efforts to raise $$ for his own adoption #Daybreak pic.twitter.com/uA6IqbD7OE

— KOLR10 KOZL (@kolr10kozl) April 26, 2016

“I never thought it would become what it was,” Davis said. “I honestly never thought I would make $5,000.”

As reported by Springfield News Leader, Davis went on to say there are not enough words to thank everyone who has shown support or given the family donations.

“Everyone has made this possible. We will make sure this child will forever be ours.”

Reportedly the wily young businessman had no problems making change on the lemonade stand and keeping track of his earnings, as math is his favorite subject.

“I’m in fractions now,” Tristan said, adding, “It’s easy for me.”

Tristan has been with Davis, off and on, from the age of around three months. He did spend a year with his biological mother along the way, but she reportedly started using drugs, and he was sent back to the Davis family and has been with them ever since.

Now the family want to make it official, with Davis, 40, saying that quite honestly, the adoption is only a formality, as he is already their child. However, she says Tristan would feel more secure knowing they were legally his parents, plus there is the fact he would like to share their last name.

Davis said she worked hard trying to raise the necessary funds and finally came up with the idea of a yard sale. When Tristan heard the news, he said he wanted to help. According to Davis, the boy always wanted to be part of the adoption process, so she told him, “You could (sell lemonade) again and get money.” And make money he did.

It turns out an employee of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks heard about the lemonade sale and its intentions, and she tipped off the local media. The news coverage acted to draw crowds to the lemonade sale.

Reportedly Tristan was soon showing reporters how to make lemonade and was regaled with stories from people about their own adoptions.

While his efforts have gone beyond his wildest dreams, Davis says he’s still humble about it, saying, “He tells everybody thank you.”

According to Tristan himself, the fundraising success is like a dream come true.

“I can’t wait for my legal guardian to be my real mom.”

[Photo via Flickr by Daniel Go, cropped and resized/CC BY-NC 2.0]