When life gives you lemons, you get Chicago Sky tickets.
That’s what happened to two young sisters from Roseland who braved the hottest day of the year on Tuesday and sold lemonade in hopes of raising enough money for tickets to the Chicago Sky’s Barbie Night game against the Indiana Fever.
Jade and Joy Lee, 12 and 11, set up a lemonade stand on the corner of 111th Street and Princeton Avenue with the goal of raising $700.
On Tuesday, they received a gift worth $2,000 toward tickets to Friday night’s game.
When philanthropist Early Walker, CEO of I’m Telling, Don’t Shoot, heard about the lemonade stand, he said he wanted to make sure the sisters could participate.
“We need to support this. If we don’t support it, there’s no way the kids are going to continue doing this,” Walker said. “We talk about violence all the time in the news, we talk about the kids doing wrong in the community, but we don’t support it enough. It’s so cool to see young entrepreneurs out here working toward something. It’s incredible.”
Walker also surprised the girls by offering to drive them to and from the game in a limousine and to take them to dinner at a restaurant.
Jade and Joy said they inherited their love of basketball from their father and that while they watch every Chicago Sky game on TV, their dream is to see forward Angel Reese play live.
“I’ve been following her journey for a long time,” Jade said. “I’m happy, I’m surprised.”
Brittany Powell-Lee said when her daughters mentioned they wanted to go to a game, she was immediately in until she saw the ticket prices.
“The cheapest ticket was over $200 and there are three of us,” Powell-Lee said. “I had just bought all of their school supplies and school uniforms. I just couldn’t imagine spending that much money.”
Powell-Lee explained to her daughters that they would have to work hard to raise the money if they wanted to go to the game.
“The girls love volunteering and had set up a lemonade stand in the past to raise money for St. Jude’s, so I thought it would be a good idea to do it again,” Powell-Lee said.
Powell-Lee said she was surprised by the gift, but also grateful.
“This is a dream come true,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the whole experience and I know they’re going to love it.”
The girls set up their stand with lemons, sugar, water and ice on Monday after school and sold cups for $1.
Before receiving Walker’s gift, the girls had raised nearly $500, Powell-Lee said.
Several family members stood by the girls to show their support, waving signs and urging their neighbors to come by and buy something.
“This is really great for her,” said her cousin Tyteana Givens, 24. “Even if the game wasn’t happening, we would still be here. That’s just what we do in this family, we support each other.”
Success is not stopping them: Jade and Joy will be back at their stall after school on Wednesday, but there is a chance of rain showers.