For most children, manning a lemonade stand is an opportunity to earn a bit of spending money.
Two young sisters in the Zilker neighborhood approach the task with a much different mindset.
Children sell lemonade to contribute to the Cile Steward Foundation Fund at Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Children sell lemonade to contribute to the Cile Steward Foundation Fund at Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Olive Adams and Izzy Pajo prepare lemonade for customers at Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Camille and Charlotte Ross, ages 7 and 5, have set up shop outside their family’s home on Kinney Avenue during the Austin City Limits Music Festival for three years in a row, capitalizing on the tens of thousands of music fans who descend on their neighborhood each October.
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But the sisters aren’t pocketing their profits. Each year, they choose to donate their profits to a philanthropy of their choice.
This year, the cause was especially personal.
The girls dedicated their lemonade stand to the memory of Cile Steward, a 7-year-old Zilker Elementary School student who was among the 27 campers and counselors killed in the catastrophic flooding over the Fourth of July weekend in 2025 at Camp Mystic in the Texas Hill Country. She remains the only victim whose body has not been recovered.
Lana O’Brien, 7, and her mom,Kara O’Brien, sell lemonade at Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. Proceeds go to the Cile Steward Foundation Fund.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
The tragedy struck particularly close to home for the Ross family. Ashley Ross, the girls’ mother, attended Camp Mystic with Cile’s mother when they were younger. Years later, the two reconnected through their daughters’ school, and Cile quickly became friends with Camille. She also served as Camille’s “big buddy” at school, said Ashley Ross, the girls’ mother.
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Over the first two days of ACL’s opening weekend, Camille and Charlotte continued their tradition and served lemonade to passing festivalgoers, raising $874, a new record. When ACL’s parent company, C3 Presents, caught wind of their efforts, they invited the girls to sell lemonade at Austin Kiddie Limits on Saturday of Weekend 2.
The Ross family quickly accepted the offer, and they knew immediately where the proceeds would go: the Cile Steward Foundation Fund.
“Immediately, that was where their heart went,” Ross said.
They received the email Wednesday and didn’t have much time to prepare, but friends and neighbors were quick to support the stand.
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“The community jumped in,” Ross said Saturday, gesturing to the glittering lemonade stand behind her. “I actually was blown away by how many parents, friends, emailed and called me saying, ‘What can I do? ‘ We did this all in a day and a half.”
That’s how a swarm of children ended up behind the register at Austin Kiddie Limits, selling $5 cups of lemonade to passersby.
Other parents and classmates took turns working shifts at the lemonade stand. When it was all said and done, they grossed nearly $2,300 in just one day selling on festival grounds, the girls’ dad, David Ross, said.
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“July 4 changed the community’s DNA, but we all came together, and that’s what’s so sweet,” Ashley Ross said. “It’s just the power of community and kindness that got us here, and these girls being able to see this and experience it, it gives me confidence that the way forward will be good.”