9-Year-Old Boy Opens Lemonade Stand to Pay for His Own Adoption

Kids start lemonade stands for all sorts of reasons, but for one kid in Springfield, Missouri, his reason was far more important than buying toys or video games.

His name is Tristin Jacobson and he wants to be adopted.

According to the Springfield News Leader, Jacobson has been on his own ever since his mom dropped him off at a Missouri shelter when he was four years old and didn’t come back. When he was five, Jacobson was placed with Donnie Davis who has been taking care of him ever since. However, Davis can’t afford the legal fees in order to adopt him.

So, he opened a lemonade stand to try and raise money. The goal was to get around $5,000 to cover the fees, but when Jacobson’s story went viral, his lemonade stand more than passed its goal with about $7,100.

Davis and Jacobson also started an online fundraiser on YouCaring.com, called Tristin’s Adoption Fund, which raised more than $6,900.

Davis said the extra money will go toward Jacobson’s college education.