A few volunteers at Bluebird Market sold lemonade Thursday to help raise money that it lost when the fencing that someone had purchased was stolen from the property last weekend before the buyer had the opportunity to pick it up.

The shopper’s money was refunded, but volunteers wanted to help reimburse the store for its financial loss. All proceeds from the market go to support the Wilderness Trace Child Development Center.

Jessica Saylor, who volunteers at the market with her clients from Quality Care Case Management, said her 3-year-old nephew, Hunter Sims, attends the special school for children with disabilities and she wanted to help the school.

Sarah Sims, of Waynesburg, who is Saylor’s sister and Hunter’s mom, stopped by the lemonade stand and brought her son to see what was going on Thursday afternoon. She also wanted to support their modest fundraising effort, so she spent Wednesday evening making peanut butter cookies and Rice Crispy treats to serve with the lemonade.

The group wasn’t charging for the treats, but was accepting donations.

Sims said Hunter has a lot of medical issues, stemming from a stroke he had when he was born. She has a social media site set up for him, so that people can keep up with his progress. “He has quite a following.” Saylor said.

So she posted the information about the lemonade stand in hopes a few people would stop by, she said.

Also helping at the lemonade stand were Samantha Love and Stephanie Luttrell, with QCCM and a few of their special needs clients from Danville. The women said their clients come to Bluebird Market a couple of days a week to help clean and straighten up inventory. “This allows the individuals with disabilities to make connections in their community,” Love said.

The lemonade stand was just a little extra task that they hoped would help WTCD, Love said. “It’s a win win for everybody.”

Only a handful of people pulled off the busy highway into the Bluebird Parking lot for a cup of cold lemonade, Luttrell said. “But they’re donating big.”

The small group had hopes of raising $75 to reimburse the market and had raised about $50 when they were about to close up, Love said.

But just as they were about to pack up and leave, a representative from Danville Financial Services pulled in, got a cup of lemonade and gave them a check for $100, making a sour situation sweet.