‘Lemonade stand’ brothers aim to raise final $22K for accessible home

By Cristina Howorun

Adam and Omar Abu-Hewaydi have spent their entire lives sharing everything — their toys, their bedroom, their sorrow and their accomplishments. But if the orphaned boys don’t figure out a way to raise $22,000, that could soon change.

Adam, 15, has a rare form of muscular dystrophy. He uses a motorized wheelchair and can’t get around his home without help. The split-level house has narrow halls and doorways, stairs and no accessible bathroom.

When his uncles visit, they lift him using a blanket. Otherwise, he is often confined to his bed.

“Without the renovations, there’s no way Adam could continue to live here,” his grandmother Gafra Abu-Hewaydi told CityNews.

The boys have been raised by their grandmother since their mother died of a brain tumor seven years ago. On a fixed income, there’s little Abu-Hewaydi can do.

“I cry for my family and my grandson. I can’t help him,” she said.

The boys spent last summer — up to seven hours a day — selling lemonade at the Loblaws near Jane and Dundas streets, trying to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars one glass at a time.

Soon, staff at the store realized they could do much more.

“We’ve been supplying all the lemonade, the cups, everything they need in order to help them reach their goal,” assistant store manager Carly Auburger said. Every glass sold went directly to their cause.

They’ve raised about $100,000 — through their GoFundMe campaign and donations from Loblaws, Muscular Dystrophy Canada and their mosque — which will pay for an elevator, accessible bathroom and ceiling lift to move Adam from his bed to the bathroom.

“If you look at the entire project — the entire project including the elevator was totalled around $220,000,” said John Groe, managing partner with Accessible Daily Living (ADL).

ADL’s contracting group donated the entire cost of building the bathroom, including labour, but the family is still about $22,000 short.

The Abu-Hewaydi’s also applied for a grant from Ontario March of Dimes, which would amount to another $15,000.

Omar, 9, said he’s going to make sure Adam gets the money he needs so he can stay at home.

“We’re going to get that $22,000,” he said. “If we need to make more lemonade, we’ll do it.”

“There’s really no giving up. We’ve started and we’re going to end it, right?”


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