Community Corner
When Life Hands You Lemons...
The Georgetown Westin joins Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation to raise funds and awareness for pediatric cancer.
When Alexandra Scott opened her lemonade stand in 2000, she couldn't have known that her efforts to raise money for pediatric cancer would be duplicated across the country, including here in Georgetown.
The is participating in Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation's Lemonade Days this weekend to continue the effort of Alex Scott, who died in 2004 at the age of eight due to neuroblastoma, the pediatric cancer she had been fighting most of her life.
The hotel, located at 23rd and M streets, will be setting up a lemonade stand in the lobby Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. asking for donations to go to the foundation.
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Friday evening, the hotel will be serve a lemon-flavored cocktail, with a portion of the proceeds donated to the fund. Sunday morning, as weekend guests leave, the hotel will be giving away lemon-flavored Luna bars.
Last year, the Westin Georgetown raised about $500 during the Lemonade Days weekend, and the event's coordinator, Kristen Slavy, is hoping to beat that this year.
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"Every little bit helps," said Slavy.
Slavy, who came to work at the Georgetown Westin in 2007, had participated in a similar event in her previous job in Wilmington, Del.
"When I came to this hotel, I looked around and saw that no one else was participating [in Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation], so I thought it would be a great opportunity," Slavy said. "There's hardly a person who doesn't know someone who is affected by cancer on some level."
The foundation, Slavy said, is much more well-known in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Alex's home state, Connecticut. She wanted to hold an event in Washington because the foundation fits with Westin's brand and with the eventual goal of bringing more awareness of the foundation to the area.
"The lemonade stand works well for us because Westin is about feeling better than when you arrived," Slavy said. "Part of that is contributing to cancer research, and part of that is through being healthy."
The foundation, now run by Alex's father, Jay Scott, has raised more than $40 million, funding research to cure childhood cancer and helping families of children in treatment.
The Westin Georgtown is inviting the community, in addition to hotel guests, to come in an enjoy some homemade lemonade and make a donation.
