Selena Payes is six years old and runs her own business, sort of. It has low overhead, a staff of one who works for no pay, and is based entirely on the kindness of strangers, and some help from her mom.

Selena mans her lemonade stand outside her home on Cottonwood Drive seven days a week, and has done so almost every day since the end of June.

“I have a lemonade stand and I’m raising the money for kids who really need food,” says the little girl.

Selena hopes to raise at least $2,000 before the end of August, to donate to the Friends in Need Food Bank, specifically to go towards helping children and babies.

But the six-year-old is no stranger to volunteering for the food bank.

“Every Christmas she would go out to neighbours and ask, ‘Can you share a can of soup?’ for her to donate to people who are in need,” says her mother, Mirta Payes. “When we collect food, she always saw there is not food for kids. She’d say, ‘Why do they never donate food for kids, mommy?’ And I don’t honestly know what to answer.”

Earlier this year, Selena saw a story on television about Alex’s Lemonade Stand, about a four-year-old girl from Pennsylvania who, while suffering from cancer, started a lemonade stand to help raise money to cure pediatric cancer.

The six-year-old’s involvement with the food bank is year-round, trying to find innovative ways to raise money or collect items to donate.

“After she saw the story with Alex’s Lemonade Stand, she said, ‘Mommy, maybe we should do it a different way. Maybe we should do a lemonade stand this year,” said Mirta.

Tiffany Parton, executive director of Friends in Need, says she’s touched by what Selena is doing.

“She’s one of those kids who’s just worried about other kids. It makes me feel awesome that other kids are being inspired by what we are doing,” she says. “She’s going to be one of those people who just gives back when she grows up, and it’s really, really nice to see.”

Although she doesn’t make the lemonade herself – her mother does – Selena gets assistance from her friends in helping to raise money.

Even while she’s at daycare, she will sometimes sit herself at the end of the driveway to sell lemonade.

“What she’s doing is so beautiful,” said Edgar Hernandez, who runs Dragonfly Family Childcare Centre. “Something like that coming from a six-year-old, it’s very touching.”

So far, Selena has raised $400, a considerable amount when you’re selling cups of lemonade by donation, a sum she is proud of, but isn’t stopping until she reaches her goal.

Parton escorted Selena on a tour of the food bank last week, and donated cups and napkins to the lemonade stand.

“It was the least we could do,” she said. “When she came in there was a line of people down the side of the building waiting to pick up. Selena asked me how many babies come her. I told her half of out clients are under 12.”

The Friends in Need food bank serves approximately 6,000 families in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows; with an estimate of 1,700-2,000 clients being children.

“We’re serving about 10 per cent of the population in Maple Ridge alone,” said Parton. “But everything helps. What [Selena] is doing is so great.

“If every kid was like Selena, we would be a much better community.”

But the six-year-old just sees it as a summer project to help someone less fortunate than she is.

“It will be helping people who are hungry every day,” she said. “I do it because there are a lot of people who really need food.”

Business hours

Selena’s Lemonade Stand is open usually seven days a week from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 23575 119 Avenue, Maple Ridge. Lemonade is by donation.