The lemonade stand that keeps on giving to cancer research.

Meet the brother and sister duo in Phoenix who started a lemonade stand at ages 4 and 6 and rally neighborhood friends every year to join their effort. Last year, they raised over $6,000 for cancer research at City of Hope^®.

What began as a modest lemonade stand in 2018 has become a major operation in suburban Phoenix. Planning begins weeks in advance. Parents, grandparents and neighbors pitch in to help. In 2024, lemonade stand proprietors Maya and Jacob Snyder even created a YouTube video to get the word out. The Lemonade Stand is fun, but it's not all fun and games. Maya (12) and Jacob (10) have raised about $21,000 for cancer research in the last seven years. Here, we talk with this incredible sister-brother duo.

Siblings Maya and Jacob created their lemonade stand to raise money for cancer research at City of Hope.

Why did you decide to donate your lemonade stand money to cancer research?

Maya: Our mom is a nurse practitioner who works on cancer research trials. When we were younger, we would sometimes visit her in the chemo room. We got to know some of her patients who were getting treatment, and we really wanted to help. We started the lemonade stand when we were 4 and 6 years old, and we raised about $1,300.

It just felt right after we did it. When you do good things, it makes you feel good.

In 2023, one of my mom's patients donated $3,400 to the lemonade stand. She passed away a little while after that. She was such a kindhearted and sweet lady.

Is organizing the lemonade stand each year a lot of work?

Maya: Yes. The lemonade stand is always on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so we start planning in October. We figure out what we're going to sell that year and if we want to do anything differently. My grandma and I bake cookies and brownies. We added hot cocoa to the menu a few years ago.

We also do a toy raffle. Jacob and I go to Target or Costco with our mom, and we buy items we think kids of different ages will like. This year, we got a hot cocoa maker and coloring books. Customers purchase raffle tickets on the day of the sale, and then we draw winning tickets.

Tell us about the YouTube video you did in 2024.

Jacob: Every year, Maya and I do a little video that our parents send to friends and family to get them to come to the lemonade stand. Last year, City of Hope asked us to do one for YouTube. We didn't have a script or anything. We needed about four takes before it was ready.

Maya and Jacob used their creativity and YouTube to promote their Lemonade & Hot Cocoa Stand in 2024.

What's it like at your house the night before the lemonade stand?

Maya: Everyone's excited, and me and Jacob are like really pumped to raise money for such a great cause. But there's also a lot to do the night before to get the baked goods and toys ready. The next morning, we set up in the driveway. We made a nice stand a few years ago - it's painted purple for cancer research.

Jacob, what's your favorite part of the big day?

Jacob: Some of the customers give us kinda big tips, and it's like, "Wow, thank you!" I think my biggest tip was $250. That money helps a lot. Seeing how generous people are just puts a smile on my face.

Another fun thing is that a lot of our friends and neighbors want to help on lemonade stand day. We might get like 15 kids in our driveway who want to work at the stand or draw raffle tickets. Some of us will go around the neighborhood holding up a sign advertising the stand. We see if anyone wants to donate or maybe buy cookies that we can deliver to them. We call ourselves DoorDash 2.0.

What ideas do you have for future lemonade stands?

Maya: Jacob and I are always thinking about that. One idea I had was to sell shaved ice. There's always something we can do to make the lemonade stand better.

Do you see yourself doing the lemonade stand for a long time?

Jacob: Definitely. I mean, we started it. Why stop now?

The Snyder siblings get their friends, family and everyone in the neighborhood involved.

In 2024, Maya and Jacob's Lemonade Stand raised more than $2,500 for cancer research at City of Hope. To learn more or donate, visit their campaign page on City of Hope's website.

"It just felt right after we did it. When you do good things, it makes you feel good." - Maya Snyder