Seven-year-old Hadley Baucom of West Point is typically a talkative little girl.
But when Baucom laid eyes on her new purple bicycle for the first time, her parents saw something unexpected.
“She was just speechless,” Baucom’s mother Morgan said. “We don’t see her speechless very often.”
Baucom was gifted the bike Aug. 3 at the West Point-Clay County Growth Alliance. It was her prize for earning the most money in West Point during Golden Triangle Lemonade Day on June 11.
But while the Hebron Christian School second-grader will keep half the money — along with her new bike — the rest went to a great cause.
Collins Chrismond, 15, was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare type of cancer that forms in soft tissue, not long before Lemonade Day. Morgan, a friend of Chrismond’s aunt Kayla Cox Foster, told her daughter there was someone she could help with money from the event.
“Well, Mama, we have to help him,” Baucom replied.
It was familiar for Morgan and Hadley’s father, Billy. For Lemonade Day in 2021, Hadley set up a stand; a portion of the proceeds — which totaled about $300 — went to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
This year, Morgan offered her daughter the choice between donating to St. Jude again or sending money to the Chrismonds. At first, Hadley was open to either.
“She said, ‘Mama, I just want to help somebody,’” Morgan recalled.
Love for everyone
Hadley had her own help in putting her plan into action.
Her aunt, Candace Decker, signed her up for Lemonade Day online. Her grandfather, Eddie Decker, and her father helped build her original stand. Morgan and Hadley’s grandmother Lynn Decker helped buy supplies.
Hadley received permission from Galloway-Chandler-McKinney in downtown West Point to set up her stand outside its Commerce Street location. “Hadley B’s Lemonade” offered regular and pink lemonade; brownie bites; and M&M, chocolate chip and other types of cookies.
Everything was priced at $1, and Hadley and her family adjusted their 2021 plan: They distributed smaller cups and smaller portions so they wouldn’t run out of supplies.
The stand was open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and about 100 people stopped by. Hadley took in $430 in all.
That was even with a trip to the retirement community across the street to distribute lemonade and cookies to residents —Hadley’s idea.
When she could get away from her stand, she checked out the rest, going to seven other lemonade stands around West Point to support her friends.
“Just to have the love for everyone and not want something back in return, that’s what makes me happy as a mom,” Morgan said.
‘Your dreams do come true’
Hadley’s success led to a prize she wasn’t anticipating.
In early August, Jeffrey Rupp, the director of outreach at the Mississippi State Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach, called the Baucoms. Their daughter’s stand was the top earner among those in West Point.
That won Hadley her bike. She cried when she saw it, but she couldn’t manage a word.
“She was just in awe,” Morgan said. “Your dreams do come true. She was excited about getting a new bike. It was really neat.”
But the bike wasn’t the goal — just a bonus.
The goal was to help Chrismond, who is undergoing treatment at St. Jude. The portion of Hadley’s proceeds went toward a card for food, gas and other travel expenses for the Chrismonds on their trips to and from Memphis.
Morgan said Collins Chrismond’s illness isn’t the first the family has experienced. Chrismond’s aunt survived cancer; his grandfather died of leukemia.
For her — and for her daughter — helping out was an easy choice.
“She wasn’t in it to win — it’s to help others,” Morgan said. “I hope that other children see that each year you can grow and you can help someone.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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