‘Put a smile on a child’s face’: Watch Mansfield police officers line up to support girls’ lemonade stand

MANSFIELD , Ohio (WJW) — For local first responders, it was a small gesture of support and community outreach.

But for Achantee King’s five daughters, it meant everything.

The girls are running a lemonade stand, trying to help their mom afford tickets to Disney World, which run about $100 per day — and that’s just for admission.

“They’re always asking me to take them to Disney World, Disney World,” King said, and she told them, “We need a lot of money. I have to work overtime.”

The girls, ages 2 to 10, offered to help by slinging some ice-cold drinks in their neighborhood. King, who coordinates and decorates for parties and events, gave them a candy cart she had been keeping in storage and even got a sign printed for their business — named Sister, Sister after King’s favorite 90s sitcom.

Monday, July 22, was the girls’ second day in business. That day, police cars happened to be circling their block more often than normal — but they weren’t sure why, King told FOX 8 News.

“We don’t live in the best neighborhood, so they typically ride around here all the time,” she said.

King and her daughters are “victims of gun violence,” she wrote in an email. Years ago, their home was struck by gunfire, police confirmed.

When the girls saw the officers line up along the street and get out of their cruisers, they were at first alarmed, King said. One even ducked behind a chair.

Then one of the officers called out, “I heard you have the best lemonade in town” and the girls “started smiling,” King said.

Mansfield police officer Eric Schaaf had spotted the girls’ lemonade stand during his afternoon patrol and asked dispatchers to send available officers over, in between their service calls, police Capt. Randy Carver told FOX 8 News.

“He just wanted to brighten those girls’ day,” Carver said. “It would be a great opportunity to put a smile on a child’s face.”

Eight officers pulled up for refreshments. Then they had dispatchers send out more first responders to the home.

The girls’ lemonade stand sold out that day.

“The girls were just so happy,” King said. “One of the officers was like, ‘Some of my friends will be by in a little bit.’ So the fire department came and EMS came.

“One of my daughters, she was just like, ‘This was a great, great day. … It was a real shock and a real surprise to all of us.”

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