Seven-year-old Emouree Johnson knew there were four lemons in the Scottsboro kitchen she shared with her grandmother, Jennifer Bordner, so when she got off the school bus one afternoon, she went straight to the kitchen and exclaimed that she was going to start a lemonade stand.
Emouree gathered all the items she’d need for the endeavor – a jug her late mother bought her, a small table, material she’d need for a sign – and started her venture with the help of her family, selling the drinks for $1 a pop.
But this isn’t your typical lemonade stand. Emouree isn’t selling lemonade to buy a toy. Instead, she’s working to buy her mother a tombstone – and in the process, she has inspired a community.
A mother’s love
It wasn’t surprising that Emouree concocted the plan to help fund the tombstone, according to her grandmother. She says that Emouree is generous and is always seeking to help others. When a neighbor moved in, the 7-year-old assembled a welcome basket for them. When another neighbor’s dog died, she also put together a sympathy basket for them.
“That’s her personality,” Jennifer said. “She wants everyone to be happy.”
And even though Emouree “acts a lot more intelligent for her age,” she still loves all the typical things 7-year-olds love. She’s a huge sports fan – she’s played softball and basketball and has been a cheerleader – and adores art.
“She can just look at something and draw it,” her grandmother explains.
And Emouree is loved deeply by her family, especially her mother, Karli Bordner, who died suddenly in early March.
“(Karli) would go to the end of the earth for her child,” Jennifer said.
After Emouree’s last report card (straight As), her mom took her to Huntsville’s Bridge Street Town Center twice to look at skin care products. (Emouree loves watching the tutorials on YouTube.)
Karli and Emouree lived with Jennifer, and Karli’s goal was to buy her own house. She had already bought Emouree’s eighth birthday gift for this summer.
In the programs for Karli’s funeral, “143, that’s enough for me, always and forever” was written inside – a phrase that Karli and Emouree always said to each other.
“The number 1 is I, because is only has one letter, ‘4’ is love, ‘3’ is you,” Jennifer explained.
A lot of helping hands
Over the last week, word quickly got around about Emouree’s lemonade stand throughout Scottsboro.
At first, a few people in the neighborhood showed up, but by Thursday, the story was all over social media. People throughout the community vowed to stop by for lemonade.
One of the people who shared the story was Debbie Light, owner of Gear Jammers, a restaurant in Scottsboro. After she published a photo of Emouree on the restaurant’s Facebook page, it was shared over a thousand times, and people reached out to her to figure out what they could do to help.
And help they did. On Thursday, around 100-150 folks came out, according to Debbie, to purchase a drink. Even more brought donations from friends who couldn’t make it out. Some people drove up and handed the family their donations in exchange for a cup; others got out and mingled and talked with the family. Some brought more lemonade, sugar, lemons and cups in case Emouree ran out. (In fact, the local Piggly Wiggly ran out of lemons Thursday.)
So much of the community was there – police officers, a motorcycle group, judges, EMS workers, nurses – to show their support. Numerous businesses – the list is long, and it keeps growing – brought checks or pledged money to help. Others have donated clothes for Emouree and brought food.
But that’s not it. Multiple local monument companies reached out to donate a tombstone to the family, and enough money has been raised to pay for her mom’s funeral costs.
That’s a lot of help from a community in just a couple of days.
‘I can’t think anyone enough. It’s all the community.”
Emouree is still selling lemonade. She sold Friday afternoon to a crowd and plans on selling today, too. (Debbie says that over 100 motorcyclists plan on coming over to show their support today, among others.)
Although Emouree has huge crowds coming to see her, she still insists on doing a lot of it on her own. On Friday afternoon, I watched her chide a family member for pitching in and helping her pour some lemonade – she said she wanted to do it all on her own.
But at the end of the day, the best thing for Emouree has been the outpouring of support from the community, according to Jennifer.
“Just simple words have helped her so much,” she says. “I’ve never seen or experienced anything like this. Just the love that Emouree has felt from this … she keeps saying, ‘Everyone loved my mommy.’
The support has been amazing for Jennifer to see, too.
“The community is helping us heal,” she said.
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