COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho -- The little girl from Coeur d’Alene who raised $23,000 to pay off all the student lunch debt in Coeur d’Alene School District made an appearance on Rachael Ray Wednesday.
Second-grader Amiah Van Hill started her lemonade stand during the summer of 2017 and by October had raised enough money through that and a GoFundMe to pay off lunch debts.
Amiah’s mother said they were contacted by the Rachael Ray Show back in December about doing an episode. During the episode, Mountain West Bank surprised them with a $5,000 check. The bank had previously invited her into the bank to host lemonade stands during the cooler months.
"To receive a check from Hayden, Idaho when we were in New York City was such a shock and we are just so happy and excited that just right down the street we are so supported. Amiah is just so thankful for that," she said.
Her new goal is to raise $100,000 to erase the lunch debt in all of Idaho. She and her mother, Rachel, are working with the non-profit World Impact Network. They will help them distribute all of the money to Idaho school districts.
"It's a really big goal but with kids they don't have so any walls to solving a problem. It's just easy in their head. They don't really know those boundaries so she decided she would go out every single day and hold as many lemonade stands as possible this past summer to help bring down that debt," Amiah’s mother, Rachel, said. "She realizes it’s a really, really big goal and she knows it may take a couple of summers to do."
If you’d like to help, you can also donate to her GoFundMe.
