LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Have you driven through the intersection of Durango and Gowan in the Northwest Valley and seen a little lemonade stand on the corner?
"What we're standing in front of right here is what I like to call the 'rehydration station!'" said 14-year-old Elijah Ortiz.
WATCH | Northwest Las Vegas teen's lemonade stand gets big boost from neighbors, online community
Elijah and his brother have been running this lemonade stand every afternoon for two years, and he wasn't going to let our hottest day of the year so far — officially 111 degrees at Reid Airport — stop them!
"I got tired of asking people for stuff — having to ask people for money, or for food or just in general," Elijah told me on Thursday afternoon. "I decided I wanted to make my own money, spend it how I want to, and not have any problems with anyone."
What started out as a way for Elijah and his brother to make some extra cash quickly turned into something more.
"I started pitching in and helping out my mom — helping paying bills and stuff," Elijah said. "It's more motivation, if anything, to know that my family, my mom, they're so grateful that I'm doing this to help them."
I found out about their lemonade stand when I saw a post on social media Wednesday night that has almost 600 likes, with dozens of commenters talking about their positive experiences with the boys over the last few months, complimenting their work ethic.
"When I see them over here it makes me extremely happy — my children are the same age as them, it's awesome," Melissa Amsler told me. "They're hardworking young men, they're teaching their peers to do something great!"
Melissa's the person who first posted about the stand, and told me she never expected her post to generate this much buzz online.
"You see so much online about teenagers getting into trouble, there's so much negativity, and they're out here working hard," Melissa said. "There are great kids out here — there are more negative posts than positives, so I wanted to make a positive one and hopefully get them some money!"
"I know there's a lot of other things I could be doing at my age right now that people would frown upon," Elijah said. "I'm just glad I'm going in the right direction."
Elijah tells me his newfound attention is certainly unexpected, but business is booming, and he's grateful for our community's support.
"I love this city to death honestly," Elijah told me. "Hard work will get you a lot of things and get you a lot of places — if you keep going, you'll get to where you want to be!"
If you'd like to pay them a visit and support, Elijah says he and his brother usually set up their lemonade stand between 11 a.m. and noon on the southeast corner of Durango and Gowan, and are there until 2 or 3 p.m. most days.
As your Channel 13 Northwest Las Vegas reporter, it's my job to tell you what's going on right here in our community – especially really cool things like this! If there's something that you think I should know about, send me an email: Guy@KTNV.com.
