Local kid raises money for Cambodian orphans

  Spurred by a goal to raise $1,200 for Cambodian orphans by the end of the year, 8 year old Austin Zappia set out to meet his mark one cup of lemonade at a time.

  Austin will be selling lemonade and ginger ale for $1 at Claire V. near downtown Roanoke.

  He will set up shop Saturday from 10 AM to 1 PM.

  The Wasena Elementary School student recently returned from visiting a Cambodian orphanage with his mother last week.

  “I made a lot of friends,“ Austin said Friday afternoon from his lemonade stand at Claire V., 309 Campbell Avenue.

  Austin’s mother, Kelly, started raising money after making business trips to Cambodia with several Claire V. colleagues.

  “I really hope that Austin will take away a greater sense of what our world as a whole is like,“ Kelly Zappia said.

  Many of the kids at the orphanage once scavenged through a city dump, Kelly Zappia said.

  The orphans would make items out of recyclables to sell at city markets, Austin Zappia said.

  Austin hopes his $1,200 will fund three orphans into the program, the Center For Children’s Happiness.

  Austin and his mother plan to go back to Cambodia this October.

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