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MURRAY — Lemonade stands may be a "dime-a-dozen" this time of year, but one stand that was open for business Friday evening had a story so unique behind it, customers were forking out far more than pocket change.
Ten-year-old Adrian Paz is an aspiring author who is hoping to get his illustrated children’s book, “The Dino Hunt,” published.
“It would mean so much to me,” Paz said. “Like, it would be really special! I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.”
A few dozen people turned out to show their support.
“Adrian has spina bifida,” said his mom, Chelsey Paz. “From an early age, he’s always been a big talker, so starting when he was 2, he would actually volunteer to help other kids talk in some of his special ed classes. From there, he just started self-writing, writing comic books, drawing pictures, telling his own stories — he can tell you a million stories.”
Any author needs a little help to get published, which is where the Red Fred Project and Dallas Graham entered the picture.
“We have teams of professionals that put the book together,” Graham said. “We raise the money, get it published, have the book signing and celebrate the life of this child.”
The project aims to help kids like Paz in every state to transform their creative dreams into reality.
“This is something that shifts how we see these children,” Graham said. “They’re awesome people with great experiences and stories and imaginations.”
Graham said a child he knew gave him the inspiration to create the Red Fred Project.
“I found out a friend of mine’s son was dying from a rare disease,” Graham said. “In a real, honest moment I was wondering what I could do for someone and a family — like what can we do to help in some way.”
Another boy, Nathan Glad — who published his own book through the program — showed up with his hot dog stand to help his friend raise money.
“We can’t print it for free, so it takes some resources,” Graham said. “It’s not Nathan’s job to do this, but he’s doing this.”
Chelsey Paz said the family was aiming to reach a goal of $3,000 to get Adrian’s book printed in hardback.
The lemonade stand effort Friday evening earned $700.
Additionally, the family was trying to raise money online through the project.
“It’s amazing, it’s humbling, you try not to cry because it’s a lot of community support,” Chelsey Paz said. “It means so much to see all these people come out and support my son and support this project and help make their dreams come true.”
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