Little Girl Hoping to Rebuild Family's Home 1 Lemon at a Time

A 10-year-old Lutz girl is keeping her chin up and striving to make lemonade out of lemons in an effort to help her family rebuild their home after a fire savaged the property in 2013.

While the De La Sala family had insurance to cover their home following the March 14, 2013, fire, it seems the contractor hired didn’t quite live up to the task.

“It was supposed to take six months (to rebuild),” said Jenn De La Sala.

Fast-forward two years and the home is mostly a shell and the family is still living in an apartment – paying out rent and a monthly mortgage.

The contractor has since been fired from the job, De La Sala said, but her family had to use part of the insurance money earmarked for replacing their belongings to pay subcontractors the general contractor did not. Plus, the money for the rebuild was already paid out to the contractor, so the cash to complete the job provided by the insurance company has also dried up, leaving the family strapped and caught in limbo paying for two homes when they only want one – their own.

And, that’s why 10-year-old Alyssa De La Sala wants to turn lemons into lemonade. She’s hoping a lemonade stand set up on the family’s property Saturday, May 16, will help raise enough money to assist them in completing the rebuilding effort.

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“I’m trying to help them by raising money at my lemonade stand this weekend that my mommy’s friend Natalie is helping me with,” Alyssa explained in a letter to a local radio show. “It’s called the Help Get Us Home (fundraiser) and our motto is when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

Alyssa’s lemonade stand is set to open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2217 Groveland Drive in Lutz where the family’s half-built home stands. Donations may also be made to the family through a gofundme campaign that has been established in their name.

As for the outpouring of support the family has received, Jenn says she, her husband, Joe, son Damien, 13, and Alyssa are “overwhelmed.”

“We appreciate so much all the support and all the love people are showing us,” she said. “It’s nice to be able to show our kids there are nice people out there that will help people when they are down.”

As for Jenn’s take on her daughter’s ambitious project, “she’s just got the biggest heart of any little girl I’ve ever known.”

Photos courtesy of the De La Sala family

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