November 4 2021 – It’s not often that leadership from Baptist Health gets to leave the office to hang out with kids and drink lemonade, but just a few weeks ago some very special children made a very special impact in our community.
Chris and Idalia Baudo have two children: ten year old Sophie and eight year old Jack. They live in Boynton Beach very close to Bethesda Hospital. Right after school started the entire family tested positive for COVID. It was a rough few weeks but everybody in the family recovered. What still lingered? A desire to help. The children started thinking about the healthcare workers and they wanted to do something to show their appreciation. So, how do an eight and 10 year old give back? By setting up something they already know how to do: a lemonade stand. “My kids were adamant they wanted to help the people on the frontlines so they did what they know how to do best and set up a lemonade stand” said Baudo. So, on a hot sweltering afternoon, the children raised almost $150 dollars by screaming “Buy lemonade! Help Bethesda Hospital!” Strangers passed by, many of whom had tears in their eyes thanking the children for what they were doing.
But, unlike most of the lemonade stands the Baudo kids had set up in the past, this one ended a little differently. Barbara James is the head of the Foundation at Bethesda Hospital. “When I got wind of what these children were doing I couldn’t just let a moment like this go by.” So Barbara gathered her team, filled their cars with balloons and pineapple swag (this is a Baptist owned hospital after all), and the team surprised the children and their parents in the middle of the afternoon by showing up at the lemonade stand. “It was so moving so see these children doing what they could to raise money for our hospital” said Barbara, “These are our future fundraisers in the making.” The Bethesda Hospital team presented the children with junior fundraiser certificates and told them any time they wanted to come and meet some of the doctors and nurses they could. “It’s just an incredible story of how a small act from two innocent children can make such a difference in our community” said Barbara. “This is why we do what we do in healthcare for moments like these.”
