Charlie Laufer is a kindergartner at Otis Elementary School who does ballet, plays soccer, and two years ago was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 3. Now 5 and in clinical remission, the Alameda girl spent part of her summer pouring lemonade outside her family's Otis Avenue home, raising money for the same organization that helped her family through treatment.
The Laufer family opened Team Laufer's Lemonade Stand in June, and according to The Mercury News, the family poured about 70 cups of Country Time lemonade while raising $4,613 in donations, well past their original $3,600 goal. All proceeds were donated to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, with the money specifically allocated to the foundation's Travel For Care program, which helps families cover travel and lodging costs to reach specialized pediatric oncology care.
The stand drew more than just customers. As reported by the Alameda Post, the June 27 event brought out Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft along with strong local community turnout. Alameda police officers also stopped by, bringing stickers for Charlie. Acting Lieutenant Kevin Horikoshi, of the Alameda Police, described Charlie as strong and brave, per the Mercury News account.
A Rare Diagnosis and a Targeted Treatment
Charlie's mother, Molly Laufer, traveled regularly to Philadelphia for her daughter's treatment during the ordeal. Charlie was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 3, and according to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, she received a targeted therapy that eradicated inoperable metastatic tumors that had spread to her lungs. That drug, larotrectinib, was first approved by the FDA in 2018 and later received full FDA approval in April 2025 for adult and pediatric solid tumors carrying NTRK gene fusions, according to Bayer.
Pediatric thyroid cancer of this kind is exceptionally uncommon. The National Cancer Institute has reported an annual incidence of roughly 4 to 5 cases per 100,000 children and adolescents nationwide, according to the American Thyroid Association. Charlie now has no thyroid and will be an endocrine patient for the rest of her life, a lasting consequence of the treatment that saved her.
Charlie took a summer break from soccer around the time of the stand, but she's kept up with ballet. Her sisters, Lily and Alex, joined in the family's fundraising effort. Through the ordeal, Molly Laufer connected with other parents of children with cancer, a network the Mercury News noted has become part of the family's experience.
A National Movement Born From a Front-Yard Stand
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation is named for Alexandra “Alex” Scott, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma before her first birthday and opened a front-yard lemonade stand in Connecticut at age 4, raising $2,000 in 2000. Her efforts sparked a national movement; the foundation has since raised more than $300 million, per the Mercury News, with a separate announcement from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation marking the 25th anniversary of that first stand in May 2025 and putting the total raised at over $350 million, funding more than 1,500 research projects globally. The foundation's Travel For Care program alone has supported more than 15,000 families with travel and lodging costs to reach specialized pediatric oncology care.
That kind of logistical support fills a real gap. Research published in The Lancet Oncology and cited in earlier Hoodline coverage found that families routinely face severe financial hardship and travel strain following a child's cancer diagnosis, echoing what the Laufers experienced traveling to Philadelphia for care. Nationally, pediatric cancer research receives only about 4 percent of federal cancer research funding, according to Patch, a shortfall that has fueled advocacy movements and grassroots fundraising efforts like Charlie's stand.
Local Care Options and the Road Ahead
Bay Area families facing similarly rare diagnoses don't necessarily need to travel across the country. UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals operates specialized pediatric thyroid cancer programs in Northern California, offering subspecialty care and clinical trials for rare endocrine tumors close to home. The American Cancer Society estimated 9,680 new cancer cases among U.S. children under 15 in 2026, even as five-year relative survival rates have climbed to 85 percent, up from 58 percent in the mid-1970s.
For now, Charlie Laufer remains in clinical remission, back in her kindergarten classroom at Otis Elementary and back on the soccer field after her summer break. Whether Team Laufer's Lemonade Stand becomes an annual fixture in Alameda remains to be seen, but for one Saturday in June, a five-year-old's recovery turned into thousands of dollars for other families still fighting the same rare disease.
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