Monday, October 10, 2011

L.A. Loves Alex's Lemonade Stand: A Decadent Chefs Cookout

In the world of art and culture (and especially here in Los Angeles), we encounter many things that inspire us. At ExperienceLA.com, we've recently been inspired and touched by the story of one little girl, Alexandra "Alex" Scott. (Details on how you can donate and help XLA raise funds are at the end of this story)

Before Alex was one, her parents were informed that she had neuroblastoma, a form of childhood cancer. One day after her fourth birthday in 2000, Alex received a stem cell transplant to help treat her cancer. She vowed to her mother that when she was well, she would raise money to help doctors help other children like herself. Later that year, Alex would open a lemonade stand and raise $2,000 for "her hospital."

While battling her illness, Alex continued to run a yearly lemonade stand to help fund pediatric cancer research until the age of 8, when Alex passed away.  With the help of countless others inspired by her story, Alex's tireless efforts raised over $1 million for pediatric cancer research.

Today, Alex's work has grown into a national organization called "Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation." The foundation has raised over $45 million for research and has donated over $1 million to L.A.'s very own Children's Hospital. ExperienceLA.com is proud to team up with the foundation in an effort to help raise awareness for Alex's mission here in Los Angeles. L.A. Love's Alex's Lemonade: A Decadent Chefs Cookout is a charity event featuring many of today's most outstanding chefs (including Los Angeles' own Chef Suzanne Goin of Lucques, AOC and Tavern, and Chef David Lentz of The Hungry Cat)  coming together to cook, raise funds and awareness, and celebrate Alex's memory.

Last year's inaugural event was attended by over 800 and raised over $300,000. We'd like to help them meet and beat those marks at this year's event, MC'd by funny-man Jimmy Kimmel. L.A. Love's Alex's Lemonade: A Decadent Chefs Cookout takes place on Sunday, November 6 at 12:00PM at the historic Culver Studios Mansion.

For the deliciously exciting list of participating chefs (which includes XLAer Julie's favorite Top Chef Master contestant Jonathan Waxman!), visit the official Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation web site.

In the spirit of Alex, ExperienceLA.com has set up our own virtual lemonade stand to help raise money. Our goal is to raise $1,160 by 11/6. If you are interested in donating to our stand, please visit our virtual lemonade stand donation page and  share this with as many people as possible to show that L.A. does love Alex's Lemonade Stand.

UPDATE: Thanks to the folks at ALSF, we're giving away 2 tickets to the after party at The Hungry Cat in Santa Monica, which starts immediately after the cookout at 4PM on Sunday, November 6. Click here for complete rules and details on how to enter our "TwEat to Win" giveaway.








-ExperienceLA.com Staff

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