Utah 9-year-old donates nearly $1,000 she earned to firefighters

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SPRINGVILLE — At just 9 years old, Pari Jat Sarkar knows a thing or two about business.

And she's using that talent to raise money for those who serve her community.

"I did a lemonade stand, and I sold some bracelets as well, and I made $990 dollars. I wanted to donate it to the fire department," Pari said Thursday after she presented a check to firefighters at the Springville Fire Department.

She said she got the entrepreneurial bug a few years ago.

"I always have a lemonade stand. I just decided that, 'Well, maybe I'll do it,' and my mom and dad thought that was a good idea. The first year I did it, I actually got a few dollars and I gave it to my grandma so she could buy herself a nice pair of leggings," Pari recalled.

The next year, she gave the money she earned at her summer lemonade stand to the Springville Police Department. In 2020, when the pandemic made it unsafe to sell lemonade, she says she sold "fancy" hand-painted rocks and again gave the proceeds to the police department.

"And this time, I decided that I would do the lemonade stand because now it's safer, and I decided that maybe we should do some bracelets as well. And I made $990," she said, displaying the envelope she planned to give to the department with a flourish.

When asked why she wanted to give the money away rather than keep it, Pari said: "It makes me feel better, and they're able to use it in a good way, so it makes me feel good after I give it."

As she presented firefighters with the check, a painted rock and a woven bracelet, Pari told Springville Police Chief Henry Clinton she sold bracelets for $1 and choker necklaces for $2.

"I see a future in business," Clinton said.

"I've been in the fire service for 40 years, and I've never had anything like this happen," he told her and her family.

Clinton, later sporting the bracelet Pari gave him, said: "It's the generosity that makes me feel inadequate, like I should've done something more. This little girl has done so much, and it's amazing her self-drive to serve the community. It's like, makes me feel kind of small, to be honest with you."

The fire chief said the department does not yet have plans for how it will use the money, but the city promised to match Pari's donation.

"It's a bigger deal than she even knows," Clinton said. "We'll definitely put it to good use."

Pari said she plans to donate again to the fire department next year because she gave to the police department the previous two years. After making her donation, she got to ride off in a fire engine, a huge smile across her face.