Seven gallons of lemonade. Six and a half hours of work. That's what it took for Amanda Ketterer to help the chimpanzees.

It was in kindergarten that the 9-year-old from Cherry Hill, New Jersey learned about Dr. Jane and her efforts to help people, animals and the environment.

"She automatically became my hero," Amanda said.

Three years later, she got the idea to host a lemonade stand to fundraise for the Jane Goodall Institute.

"It just popped right into my mind," she said.

Amanda had wanted to hold the lemonade sale at her house but her dad wasn't sure she'd get a lot of customers. He suggested holding her fundraiser at the big swim meet in town so they contacted the event organizers and got permission.

Then, they used old furniture and wood scraps to build the stand completely of reused materials¿even the "Lemonade" sign was second-hand! To help draw attention, Amanda draped a cute stuffed animal from the top of the stand and made a sign that read, "Lemonade for Chimp Aid."

On the day of the meet, Amanda and her family set up the stand and sold lemonade, candy and lemonade sticks.

"[To make the lemonade sticks], you put hollow candy straws into a whole lemon and drink the juice from the lemon," Amanda said. "It is sweet and sour all at the same time."

Amanda worked her lemonade stand from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., taking only short breaks to cool off—it was 110 degrees outside! Her sister, Laura, helped too, and at the end of the day, they had raised $536 (USD).

Later that week, she emailed the Roots & Shoots National Office to share her good news. Amanda used the funds she'd raised to become a Chimp Guardian for twins, Golden and Glitter. What was left over, she donated to JGI.

When she grows up, Amanda wants to be a zoologist or animal rescuer. With her Roots & Shoots project, she's already well on her way to rescuing animals!

Looking for other fundraising ideas? Check out page 43 of the Roots & Shoots Handbook or the "How do I maintain my Roots & Shoots group?" chapter of the R&S High School Starter Kit—all available in the online Resource Center.