When two Virginia siblings wanted to raise money, they did what most kids do – they started a lemonade stand. They had done it before and had fun selling the $2 drinks outside of their home. But this summer, something happened that could have ruined that fun – a man ran up and stole the jar of money from their table. But instead of ruining their fun, it showed them the kindness of strangers. And bikers, too.

Rebecca and Josh Caldwell had been sitting at their table on a sunny day this summer when a car pulled up beside them. Out of it came a young man, who walked up to them and snatched the money jar, and then driving away quickly. Their mom had just gone inside to take a phone call, when Rebecca, 10, came inside crying, telling her what had happened. The jar contained $40.

More than 650 people showed up to support the children after their lemonade stand was robbed. Photo courtesy of the Caldwell family

Her brother was just as upset. “I felt angry,” Josh said. Their mom, Annetta, tried to calm them down. “They were scared,” she said. “We’ve been doing lemonade stands for years … we’ve never had any issues at all.” Annetta called the Chesapeake Police Department. They showed the officers security camera footage of the theft.

In the video, the man can be se4en driving a sedan around before coming back. “He was waiting for me to go inside,” Annetta said. They also shared the footage on a local neighborhood app, so others would be aware of the incident.

It didn’t make sense for a grown man to come and steal money from kids,” their mom said.

Annetta, along with her husband, encouraged the children to host another lemonade stand. “We don’t want them to be afraid; we want them to still do the things that they love,” she said. But what they could not have expected was what would happen next.

The money the children earned when the reopened their lemonade stand. Photo courtesy of the Caldwell family

The story of the theft had picked up traction and news outlets had reported on the case, as well as the children planning another lemonade stand. The family could not believe it, as people began lining up to purchase a drink from the kids.

“I’m a father of two kids myself, so I really resonated with the story,” said Andrew Reyes, one of the day’s customers. “I wanted to gather as many people as I could.” And it just so happened that he was a member of a biker group, the 757 Bike Meet-Up & Ride. And meet up they did.

“One thing in the motorcycle community is you don’t mess with kids,” Reyes said. “Once we saw that story, it had to be done.” More than 130 bikers pulled up to Rebecca and Josh’s lemonade stand. “It warmed my heart,” Reyes said. “It really did.”

Siblings Rebecca and Josh Caldwell at their lemonade stand in Chesapeake, Va. Photo courtesy of the Caldwell family

By the time the day ended, Annetta said, more than 650 people had shown up to the stand. There had been family, friends, neighbors, strangers, firefighters and local politicians. “I was just blown away by everything,” she said. “Our whole community is amazing.” The siblings could not get over the support from their community.

It was really nice seeing all the people,” Rebecca said.

“We’ve never seen anything like that before around here,” said Randy Watson, a neighbor of the family’s. “Everybody just gave,” he said. “It wasn’t about getting lemonade. It was about restoring those little kids’ hope.”

It was not just residents that donated, too. Across the country as the story went viral, donations poured in. “We’re still getting checks in the mail,” Annetta said. The children have raised more than $6,500. They plan to use the money to help fund their older sister’s missionary trip to Asia, she said, as well as buy a four-wheeler and a dirt bike.

And thanks to the surveillance footage, police quickly arrested a 19-year-old and charged him with petit larceny. Annetta said she and her children forgive the man for what he did. “We don’t know what was going on with him that caused him to do that,” she said. “The big lesson with this is that we forgive.”

Sources: Washington Post | 13 News Now