Purple Lemonade was the inspiration of a young wife and mother in answer to prayers of how she could serve the Lord. As a young bride, Heather was transplanted into the Bryan/College Station, Texas area so that her husband, Trey, could attend graduate school at A&M University. As Heather settled into her nursing career and looked for ways to support Trey as he worked toward his doctorate in Physics, she prayed for God to show her a way to serve Him and become involved in His mission work. One day during that first Spring she was in the area, Heather noticed dumpsters in neighborhoods and apartment parking lots overflowing with things that students and others were throwing away as they prepared to move from their current residence or from the city. With a heavy heart Heather observed the frequency that “Jaws”, the trash truck, went from neighborhood to neighborhood munching up items that could still be useful. Heather frequently gathered items that could be repurposed and took them to local missions and other organizations. Sometimes Heather would take the items home and store them in her garage until she could personally find them a new home.
By midsummer, Heather asked for help from family members. The abundant items being thrown away were simply too numerous for Heather and Trey to continue harvesting and gifting without a little help. Extra hands made the process much easier and provided the opportunity to clean and/or repair electrical and other items prior to repurposing. With great joy and happiness Heather and her helpers saw the mission grow. As the next “move out” season came, the Purple Lemonade workers came more prepared with a trailer, gloves, water bottles, and food. Heather’s garage overflowed and the yard filled with items to be “gifted”. Items that were not needed in the area were dispersed to fill needs in North Texas and West Texas. Items that no one seemed to need at all were taken to West Texas to be sold. Second Hand Rose owner, Dana, blessed Purple Lemonade with a place to sell items so that funds could be raised to gift those who might need a financial blessing or to help provide items needed to keep the Lemonaders going, such as gloves and bottles of water.
A highlight in the early days of Purple Lemonade came at the end of a long, hot August day when Heather and her Lemonaders went from one non-profit organization to another attempting to donate furniture that had been rescued that day. With disappointment, everyone returned to Heather and Trey’s home with a trailer load of furniture and other items that were unacceptable to the local non-profit and mission organizations. Unknown to Heather, these organizations would not accept blemished or worn furniture or other items that showed very much use. Praying for a home for the trailer load of items, Heather looked down the street and remembered her neighbors who had relatives living with them because their home had burned. With great hope Heather and Trey went to their neighbor’s house and asked to speak to the homeless family. As it turned out, every item in the trailer was needed by the young family who had lost everything. Heather and Trey found renewed energy as they helped the needy family store the items in a storage unit to wait for the time when they would move into a home of their own. All the Purple Lemonade workers were delighted to see a struggling family seem a little happier as they saw new hope to start over after their devastating losses.
During dinner that same evening, everyone shared stories of treasures found that would be helpful to others as well as reactions of bystanders as they watched the Lemonaders gather items. Another delight of the long day was helping a young student and her mother who were struggling to move everything out of an apartment. The move was at a standstill because a sleeper sofa was much too heavy for them to move alone. The apartment that would be the new residence did not have enough room to house many items and they had no way to haul them. As mother and daughter watched the Lemonaders at work, they carefully approached them and asked what they were doing. As it turned out, the Purple Lemonade workers were a blessing to the student and her weary mother. With a large deposit at risk if all personal items were not removed from the apartment that day, the ladies asked if the Lemonaders would be interested in a donation of the remaining items in the apartment, including the very large, heavy sofa. What a deal, everyone was happy. Purple Lemonade could rescue many boxed and ready to go items from the apartment, and the student could keep her much needed deposit! As it turned out, several items that were “gifted” to the family who had suffered home loss due to fire were items that had been donated from the apartment move.
With beds and desks to North Texas, bathroom rugs, lamps and other items to West Texas; many, many repurposed items in the Bryan/College Station area, another Purple Lemonade had come to a close. Heather and her Lemonaders had witnessed growth in all areas of the mission and they began looking forward to future seasons of serving others.
