Serving a Sweet Treat While Searching for a Cure

She does it for Kate Jacobs, Wyatt Kamp, Sabrina Cox and all of the other kids like her.

And she does it for those who can’t be there, like Erik Ludwinski, Carl Robinson, Ian Buie, Mary O’Keefe and John Van Riper.

Molly Hollway does it because she’s one of the lucky ones—a cancer survivor.

This Sunday, Hollway, an Edina High School senior, led the Seventh Annual Hollway Family Grand Stand as part of the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, selling lemonade to raise money for childhood cancer research.

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation was started by Alex Scott, a young girl with neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nerve cells that mainly affects young children. When she was four years old, Alex set up a lemonade stand to raise money for childhood cancer research. As more people heard Alex’s story, they were inspired to hold their own lemonade stands, raising thousands of dollars.

Alex died in 2004 at the age of eight, but by that time, she and others had raised one million dollars for research.

Hollway was one of the people who heard Alex’s story and was moved to do something.

In 1993, as a 13-month-old, Hollway was diagnosed with stage three neuroblastoma. She underwent months of surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Today, as an 18-year-old, she feels no daily effects of the disease.

Although Hollway has no memory of having cancer, she knows how lucky she is. According to the National Cancer Institute, the cure rate for patients one year and older with stage three neuroblastoma is 50 to 70 percent.

So, she decided to take action.

“There were really no survivors that we knew of,” Hollway said. “I wanted to donate my survivorship to giving back.”

Hollway and her family ran their first lemonade stand in 2005, raising about $8,000. Throughout the years, the family’s stands have raised more than $50,000. This year, they hoped to raise $20,000 with the stand, and a new addition, the .

“It’s another way for the message [about fighting childhood cancer] to get out there,” said Mary Hollway, Molly’s mother.

“We thought it was important to have an event right in Edina,” Molly added.

On June 4, hundreds of people came to Rosland Park to participate in the event, which the Hollways plan to organize each year as a complement to the lemonade stand. The Lemon Run/Walk around Lake Cornelia raised about $3,500.

This year, the Hollways had more help than ever with the stand. In addition to the family, more than 40 kids volunteered their time.

Helping Molly Hollway were seven of her closest friends—all EHS seniors. Hannah Brooks, Maggie Anderson, Blake Hirschey, Sami Reber, Anna Hendrickson, Claire Rozman, Kelly Peterson teamed up with Hollway to lead the organization. The eight of them are working on Alex’s Lemonade Stand as a “May Term” service project. The group’s application to the school was accepted, based in part on the girls’ stellar grades and attendance. While the rest of the EHS students had school through June 10, the last day of classes for Hollway and her friends was May 18.

But their early summer hasn’t been filled with relaxation, as they have put in hours of work on the project.

“I just feel fortunate having a friend who is a cancer survivor,” Brooks said of Hollway. “She’s our inspiration for doing this.”

The project culminated Sunday with three lemonade stands in the main rotunda at Mall of America. The event featured two performances from Studio 4, Molly Hollway’s former dance studio, and a silent auction of items donated by local businesses.

Although the project ended Sunday, the work to fight childhood cancer does not. Donations are still being accepted on the group’s website.

And of course, the lemonade stand will be back again in 2012.

“What keeps us going is how many people it impacts,” Hollway said. “Giving is how I receive. Trying to find a cure is what gives me hope.”