November 28, 2024
As the summer season wound down and with a return to school just around the corner, it was a busy time for 7-year-old Levana and 6-year-old Ellie.
They were hard at work building their desks in preparation for their upcoming school year at Talmud Torah, using a ready-to-assemble furniture kit. The girls were also preparing to walk in the much-anticipated March for Jerusalem, which was then just a few short days away.
This all led to an innovative idea.
“There was an extra piece of cardboard in the box,” the girls said. “And we used it to make a lemonade stand.”
They quickly decided that this lemonade stand would have particularly special meaning. Proceeds would be directed towards the March for Jerusalem, supporting Birthright Israel, March of the Living, Journey of Hope, GOTEENISRAEL and other Federation CJA travel programs to the Jewish state.
Levana and Ellie designed their cardboard sign, with the March for Jerusalem logo prominently featured, and set up shop at the corner of Mackle and Beethoven in Côte Saint-Luc on a warm and sunny day during Labour Day Weekend.
“We put it at the corner of a street so that we would get all the traffic. A lot of people came,” they said.
While only charging $1 for a refreshing cup of lemonade, pineapple or orange juice, the girls were amazed by the generosity of friends, family and strangers alike who stopped by that day. “Some people even put more money than $1,” the girls beamed. “We had one person even give $60 for a single cup.”
All in all, Levana and Ellie raised nearly $1,000 thanks to their lemonade stand, which they proudly brought to Federation CJA in a large jar, along with their mother Eva Derhy. A member of Federation CJA’s Ora Collective who also recently joined Montreal’s Lion of Judah cohort, Derhy was proud to see her daughters engage in philanthropy at such a young age in what proved to be a full-circle moment for her.
Derhy was one of the co-chairs of the Montreal Mega Mission in 2017, leading a group of over 900 to Israel in celebration of Federation CJA’s centennial. The youngest participant on that mission? A 5-week-old Levana.
“I was due four weeks before departure,” Derhy recalled. “I promised that if everything went well, I would still go. I brought my mother-in-law with me who helped me a lot. We even have a picture of little Levana with Michael Rosenfeld, who was celebrating his 100th birthday.”
Levana and Ellie are already thinking about new ways they can raise money for community, whether by selling chocolate bars, bracelets and even hot chocolate and maple taffy during the cold winter months.
The girls recently picked up their special Littlest Philanthropist passport to log their mitzvot and keep track of their participation in various volunteer activities. They are also excited to start building their tzedakah boxes they received as part of Federation CJA’s Tzedakah Box Project. The initiative is designed to empower children at Jewish day schools and CPEs across Montreal to experience the joy of giving firsthand.
Levana and Ellie encourage other children their age to help out their community, too.
“It’s easy to give back,” they said. “You should join us too.”
Sign up your child today for the Littlest Philanthropist program. To learn more about the Tzedakah Box Project or to order a box for your child today, click here. 
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