After losing a local hero, two young friends from Colorado channeled their grief into a fundraising drive. The girls, devastated by the fatal shooting of an Arvada police officer, opened a lemonade stand to raise money for the fallen officer’s family and raised almost $2,000.
Ashley Conn claimed her daughter Scarlett Reust, 9, struggled to make sense of the loss of Police Officer Gordon Beesley, who was fatally shot on June 21 by a suspect who “expressed a hatred for police,” according to a statement from the department.
Scarlett immediately expressed to her mom, “What if that was my dad? He had kids ... like, what if that was my dad?” However, she quickly turned her grief into a plan of action.
Teaming up with her best friend, 10-year-old Addyson Elliot, Scarlett decided to erect a lemonade stand in central Commerce City. The girls also printed t-shirts that read, “Lemonade for Officer Beesley,” charging 50 cents a glass from their stand adorned with a large American flag.
Beesley, survived by a wife and two children, was a 19-year veteran of the Arvada Police Department. A school resource officer who once earned the Arvada Employee of the Year award, Beesley was also known for accompanying kids to school on their bicycles in the absence of guardians, to make sure they arrived safely.
After the success of their first day, Scarlett and Addyson returned for two more days selling lemonade under the Colorado sun. They met dozens of mourners and well-wishers along the way. Some knew Beesley and shared memories; others who were moved by the girls’ initiative simply gave generously.
Conn claimed that one teenage customer, whose own father was an officer, “emptied her wallet,” according to Conn.
The girls’ motive remained simple: “We wanted [the Beesleys] to feel happy even though they lost a very good family member,” said Addyson.
The industrious girls’ generosity has sent waves of positivity through their grieving community, and to Beesley’s nearest and dearest.
