Mario Carpino’s 4th Annual Lemonade Stand Benefit
For Children’s Cancer
Saturday, June 7, 2014 · 9:00am to 5:00pm
Woolwich Fire Station · 1517 Kings Highway · Swedesboro, NJ
Sponsored by Alex’s Lemonade.org · Info/Donate
Facebook Page (ATT: Jon Bon Jovi)
Sources: Fox News Denver CO; YahooShine.com
Back in December 2007, when he was 4 years old, Mario Carpino told his mother that his left arm hurt. “I thought he may have a pinched nerve, so I took him to the doctor,” (said his) mom, Anna Carpino. A few days later, “The doctor said Mario had one inoperable brain tumor. An MRI revealed three more tumors, and we were told he had only three months to live.”
Mario immediately started chemotherapy, and his tumors started shrinking over the course of the next year and a half. However, one year later, a tumor grew back. “Mario’s last chemo treatment was in March 2012, and while he still has brain tumors, they are stable, although he gets scanned every three months to make sure they haven’t grown,” says Anna.
Mario, now in fourth grade at Charles G. Harker School in Woolwich Township, has become involved with an organization called Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer, founded in 2005. During her short life, 8-year-old Alex Scott, who passed away from neuroblastoma, hosted an annual lemonade stand and donated the funds to cancer research. Kids like Mario hold yearly lemonade stands in her honor.
Mario wanted to raise $5,000 when he held his first stand in 2011. He ending up raising $25,134. In 2012, he raised $48,517, exceeding his goal of $25,000. And in 2013, Mario set his goal at $50,000 and brought in $68,542. People can also donate to Mario’s cause on his event page.
This year’s event will be held at the Woolwich Fire Department in Swedesboro, New Jersey (the department named him an honorary firefighter in 2012). There will be face painting, clowns, an inflatable fire truck slide, DJs, and a raffle for prizes.
This year, Mario’s goal is $60,000, and he’s had another goal: to get his favorite singer Jon Bon Jovi to come to his lemonade stand. “I told him it’s unlikely because Bon Jovi is famous,” says Anna. “He said, ‘But Mom, he’s so nice.'”
Although the Carpinos have never heard from the star, Mario even created a Facebook page — Mario’s Fight to Get Bon Jovi to His Lemonade Stand in June — where people can follow his quest to reach his favorite singer.