Lifeline Children’s Services hosting 7th annual fundraiser

What began as a lemonade stand on a hot summer day in 2015 has turned into an international fundraiser.

When Herbie Newell’s three children wanted to do a lemonade stand, his wife took them to a local dog park and spent the day there, earning a total of $20.

“The kids asked if they could give the money to Lifeline,” said Newell, who has served as the president of Lifeline Children’s Services for the past 18 years. “They said, ‘What if we got someone that dad knows to agree to match what we make and encourage kids to raise money and someone can match all of that?’ We ended up raising $120,000 that summer because of the success.”

Newell said that over the last several years, they have continued with the same model, and people from all 50 states have participated. During 2020, the fundraiser moved to an online platform due to the pandemic, as kids created YouTube videos and sold bracelets and crafts.

“It’s really incredible to see thousands of kids around the country take a stand for orphans,” he said.

Since the Stand for Orphans fundraiser began seven years ago, a total of $353,630 has been raised, and that’s not including donor matches. This year’s Stand for Orphans began in June and runs through August. However, anyone can participate anytime throughout the year as well. An instruction kit is available at standfororphans.org.

“It’s minimal work for parents — the kids have to do the heavy lifting and have ownership and be responsible to be able to do something and see how their hard work and effort is making a difference. You can see the pure joy of kids that’s not measured in dollars and cents but on behalf of someone else. We’re creating a generation that will look outside of itself and be willing to help others,” Newell said.

Local businesses are also involved to help raise money for the cause. The Sweetest Booth, a cookie shop in Dunnavant Valley, will ship lemon cookies to all 50 states; Chick-fil-A Greystone is donating $1 of every lemonade sold from July 12 to 23 and Papa Murphy’s is giving $1 for every “Little Murph” pizza sold at all stores in the Southeast throughout the whole month of August.

Lifeline Children’s Services was founded in 1981 and serves vulnerable children and families through private domestic and international adoption, family restoration and pregnancy counseling. It’s also a sister program to Save-A-Life.

Newell’s wife, Ashley, was serving with a crisis pregnancy center (Save-A-Life in Vestavia) and that’s where his passion for helping women and children blossomed, he said. The couple would try to challenge themselves and pray through how to help the women and children that Ashley was working with on a daily basis. That’s what led Newell to leave his job at Warren Averett accounting firm after five years and begin in his role at Lifeline in 2003. The organization has since grown from 12 employees to over 200.

Based in Birmingham with an office off Brook Highland Parkway, Lifeline Children’s Services is the largest Evangelical Christian adoption agency in America with offices in 16 states, serving all 50 states and working with 24 different countries around the world.

“We help walk women through pregnancy and ultimately help take care of children on the other end of pregnancy as well,” said Newell. “We try to recruit families to be a safe refuge and safe haven for kids in U.S. foster care. We also help with reunification to get [children] reunified with their birth families. We provide counseling and education services for those in foster care or that have been adopted and have traumatic backgrounds and have learning challenges we want to help them with. We also provide counseling for children and parents so they will thrive as a family.”