As kids are prone to do with school projects, Graham Goodin may have waited until the final hour — 9 a.m. Saturday to be exact — to tell his parents about his business plans. So he quickly rallied his supplies and his team: fellow 12-year-old Caden Wallace and his sister, 10-year-old Everly Wallace.
Seven hours in the summer heat and a whopping $550 later, Graham trudged down the last stretch of sidewalk and slumped into a gray lawn chair.
“You’re going to be alright, buddy,” his dad, Greg Goodin, 46, said, sitting alongside him in the driveway of their Lakewood home.
“I just walked two blocks carrying ice-cold lemonade,” Graham replied. “My legs hurt, my fingers are numb.”
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USPS mail carrier Khalil Jackson receives a lemonade from Everly Wallace, 10, who is running a lemonade stand to raise money for Camp Mystic with Graham Goodin, 12, and Caden Wallace, 12, close to Loving Ave and La Vista Dr in Dallas’ Lakewood neighborhood on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counselors when historic floodwaters ravaged through the camp on July 4. (Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)
After days spent consumed by the Kerr County floods, Graham and Caden had found themselves feeling restless. They’d heard enough to know the Guadalupe River rose to historic heights just before dawn on July 4, sweeping away miles of homes, cars and families, killing at least 103 people in Kerr County alone. Among the victims were nearly 30 girls — children near their age — and their counselors from Camp Mystic, a beloved Christian summer camp in Hunt, Texas, that’s drawn hundreds to the Hill Country for nearly a century.
“It goes to show how big of a situation this is,” Graham said. “People aren’t just putting green ribbons on their trees because it’s something trendy on TikTok — no, this is a real-life event, it has major effects, and it’s not just going to go away.”
Related:What was lost when parts of Camp Mystic, a beloved summer destination, washed away
It can be hard to know what to do when tragedy strikes. In the week since the river rose, dozens of donation methods have been set up to benefit the people of Kerr County: Restaurants are offering 100% of their proceeds, families of the victims are creating foundations and GoFundMes to honor their loved ones and lay them to rest, and organizations are asking for new volunteers as the first wave cycles out, worn down by days of wading through debris and destruction.
“We can go down there and take them supplies — or we can do our best, right where we are,” Greg said. “The old-school lemonade stand is not dead — and then you attach a good cause to it? Man, it’s wildfire.”
“This morning,” Graham added, “it was pure rush hour.”
Caden Wallace, 12, holds some of the money raised for Camp Mystic through his lemonade stand close to Loving Ave and La Vista Dr in Dallas’ Lakewood neighborhood on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counselors when historic floodwaters ravaged through the camp on July 4. (Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)
With the help of their families, the kids gathered a cooler chock-full of ice, towers of plastic red Solo cups and two pitchers.
In blue, pink and green chalk, they decorated a homemade wooden stand posted under a yellow umbrella: “Lemonade, $1. All proceeds go to Camp Mystic.”
By 10 a.m., they were set up and making sales.
Nearly every customer tipped — $3 here, $7 there. A group of Dallas firefighters swung by and gave $40, no lemonade required. One woman handed over two $50 bills.
Graham, briefly rendered speechless, thanked her profusely: “The best money I’ve spent all day,” she said.
Related:‘It doesn’t look like we’re going to make it.’ D-FW couple’s final calls haunt loved ones
Traffic slowed down by late afternoon, barring the occasional delivery or mailman.
About 5 p.m., as they were winding down for the night, a man pulled over in a gray SUV.
“I would love some lemonade,” he said from the driver’s side window.
“Pink or regular?” Caden asked.
“Let’s go with regular,” he replied, handing over a stack of $1 bills.
“Thank you for the tip,” Graham shouted as he stuffed them into a small wooden chest. The hundreds raised will all go toward efforts to rebuild Camp Mystic.
“It’s a sign of the best lemonade in Dallas,” Greg said, “and of the big, big heart behind it.”
(From left) Caden Wallace, 12, Everly Wallace, 10, and Graham Goodin, 12, pose for a photo as they run a lemonade stand to raise money for Camp Mystic close to Loving Ave and La Vista Dr in Dallas’ Lakewood neighborhood on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counselors when historic floodwaters ravaged through the camp on July 4. (Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)
On Sunday morning, Graham and Caden’s families will first head to church. When they return home, they’ll change into their summer clothes and set up shop.
They’ll do their best, right where they are.
The lemonade stand will resume Sunday from 12 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 7118 La Vista Drive.