13-year-old Kaylin Fumia, left, and her sister, 6-year-old Natalie, have been selling hot chocolate to help support local children in need for Christmas. They will be selling hot chocolate from 3 to 5 p.m. daily through Thanksgiving at 192 Broad St., Pittston.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Pittston sisters raise money for kids in need
Laylin Fumia, center, hands a hot chocolate to customer Alley Smith of Exeter. Kaylin and her sister Natalie, right, are selling hot chocolate to benefit children in need for Christmas.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
PITTSTON — Kaylin Fumia, 13, always wanted to have a lemonade stand. After all, her family’s home is located on Broad Street, which is busy enough to attract potential customers and drum up lots of business.
Her grandfather, Jeff Branas, said he would build one, but unfortunately, he passed away unexpectedly in 2017.
This year, Kaylin’s mom, Sabrina, feeling sad over the loss of her father, told her mother, Francine Arcaro-Branas, that she wished her dad were still here to build a lemonade stand for the children.
Never having built anything, except a great Italian meal as owner of Arcaro’s – The Next Generation, Arcaro-Branas went to Lowe’s to pick up material and built the stand.
Eventually, Kaylin became a big sister to Natalie, now 6. And now they have a stand to sell refreshments.
Because the girls were getting older, Arcaro-Branas felt she needed to build the stand before they outgrew selling lemonade.
A few weeks ago, Kaylin wanted to sell hot chocolate to raise money for children in need for Christmas. With the stand all built, Sabrina and her daughters placed it on the sidewalk.
Over the last two weeks, Kaylin and Natalie raised over $200. They already used some of the money for an Angel donation at Boscov’s to help children.
Kaylin said the sisters are not ready to stop selling hot chocolate yet and plan on selling up to Thanksgiving and possibly longer.
You can stop by the stand at 192 Broad St. on a chilly day between 3 and 5 p.m. for hot chocolate while helping a child in need, to make their Christmas happy.
