Celebrate Life Foundation

DANVERS — Three girls on Pine Street are running an iced tea stand that is more than a summer thirst quencher.

At 50 cents a cup, the girls are slowly raising money for the Celebrate Life Foundation in honor of their mother's friend who died of breast cancer.

Fraternal twins Ashley and Courtney Arnoldy, 10, along with their pal Rachael Burrows, also 10, are manning the iced tea stand from the Arnoldys' front yard on Pine Street. The girls hold up signs and cheer at cars as they pass by, asking residents to sip tea for a cause.

"It's good because we know we're doing something good for other people," Courtney said.

Celebrate Life is raising money to build a home in Boston where cancer patients can stay for free during treatment. Many people who travel to the city for cancer treatments end up spending a lot on hotels, or else commute back and forth, which is draining physically and emotionally. The American Cancer Society builds these homes, called Hope Lodges. Nationwide, there are 20 of them, including one in Worcester, according to the organization's Web site, www.cancer.org.

"It's something that when (my friend) was going through her treatment, she just wished there was a place people could go," said Susan Arnoldy, the twins' mother.

Catherine Langan, who lived in Newton, died from breast cancer nearly two years ago. She was only 37 and left behind four children under the age of 6.

So far, the girls have sold iced tea three times, raising a total of $85. They also set up a coin jar at the Great Oak Elementary School, where they are all in the fourth grade. They are hoping to raise more money during the summer break.

The girls' secret to being good saleswomen, they said, is that they jog on the sidewalk alongside cars as they pass.

"We kind of run along with (the cars)," said Rachael Barrows.

"We yell, 'Ice tea! 50 cents for the Celebrate Life Foundation!" Courtney said.

"People have been very generous," their mother said.