Detroit Boy Trying To Save City, One Lemonade At A Time

Lots of kids in summer start their lemonade stands. The sight of a group of kids and a sloppily made pitcher of Kool Aide lemonade and a hand written sign is about as American as a pot smoking 17 Olympic medal athlete. But one kid in Detroit has other plans for his money made at his lemonaide and popcorn stand in Detroit. No, he's not buying a bike or an Ipad.

No, Joshua Smith is going to give all the money he makes from his summer job stand to the City of Detroit to help with it's $200 million debt. Josh was on his way to a piano lesson when he heard on the radio how bad the city was crumbling, and asked his parents how it was happen. Dad explained all the closed parks, crumbling road and old abandoned buildings were part of the problem. So Josh decided to do something about it.

In the ABC News story "Detroit boy sells snacks to save Motor City" Josh is learning about how things like the internet and Facebook are helping with the cause,

"The power of word-of-mouth and the speed of the web have now grown the boy's effort tremendously...there was a Detroit Fire Department t-shirt left at the family's door along with a $20 bill. Earlier in the week, a woman from England mailed $5 toward the effort. 'Yesterday I came downstairs and there was $100 there … Once it hits social media, it really takes off,'" Dad said.

Josh's goal was $1,000. He will probably hit that by the end of the week. Maybe the City shouldn't just take his money, they should hire him. He did receive a call from Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, who suggested the boy "use the money for college". Josh's mom said "We already have a college fund for Joshua".