When it comes to fundraising for The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), these three girls from Melbourne’s south-east aren’t playing games.

Eight-year-old Ruby, seven-year-old Chloe and four-year- old Audrey Beven have been fundraising for the Good Friday Appeal for three years, and have already raised close to $9,500, which is pretty impressive when you learn that this is all through their Lemonade Stand.

The RCH holds a special place in the hearts of the whole Beven family, as Chloe spent time in ICU shortly after birth receiving treatment and care for meningitis. Years later a close friend of the Beven girls received treatment at the RCH, and sadly lost his battle with cancer. The tragic passing of their friend inspired the Beven family to establish an annual fundraiser to bring their community together for a worthy cause.

With a successful inaugural year in 2016 raising over $1,000, the Beven’s rallied together to expand their annual Lemonade Stand and the whole family pitched in. While the girls focussed on perfecting the most delicious lemonade, their parents helped bake a range of treats, cousins helped man the stand and even their grandparents worked on developing Easter crafts and growing plants to sell. In addition, members of the community pitched in with raffle prizes, silent auction items and even a coffee cart to help raise funds. The results were phenomenal, and saw their 2018 fundraiser raising $6,242.

“It was heart warming to see our family, friends and local community rally together to support this cause,” said mum Cathie. “We can’t wait to do it all again next year!”

The Beven Family are a wonderful example of the creative ways Victorians and Australians rally together every year to raise money for the Good Friday Appeal.