A lemonade stand on Dale Street in Revere has quietly grown into one of the city's longest-running charity traditions, with sisters Kayla and Jordan Martelli using this year's stand to push their lifetime fundraising total past $70,000 for childhood cancer research. The sisters set a $2,500 goal for their 2026 event, held at 39 Dale St., aiming to help their cumulative haul clear that milestone.
The stand has operated for 15 years, according to 7News WHDH, which reports that proceeds go toward fighting childhood cancer through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. Kayla Martelli's efforts fund cancer research, the station notes, and she has said she plans to pursue a career in cancer nursing. The stand is run by the two sisters, who are described in the station's report simply as siblings dedicated to the same cause since childhood.
The fundraiser actually traces back to 2012, when the Martelli sisters put it on their summer bucket list as kids and settled on Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation after their mother searched online for pediatric charities to support, according to Advocate Newspapers. What began as a childhood activity outside their family home has stretched into a decade-and-a-half commitment that has drawn recognition from Revere's city government along the way.
A Personal Connection to the Cause
Jordan Martelli revealed this year that her dedication to pediatric cancer fundraising was inspired in part by her own childhood experiences as a frequent patient at Boston Children's Hospital, per press materials shared ahead of the sisters' 2026 event. That personal history helps explain why the sisters have kept the stand going well beyond the point most childhood projects fade away.
Both sisters have also represented Revere as student service ambassadors for Project 351, a statewide Massachusetts youth leadership initiative that selects one ambassador from each municipality, Advocate Newspapers reports. Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation itself named the Martelli sisters among its top peer-to-peer fundraisers nationally in both 2018 and 2019, while the sisters were still in middle and high school, according to the same account.
City Hall Has Taken Notice
Revere's government has formally recognized the sisters' work more than once. In August 2021, the Revere City Council awarded a Certificate of Commendation to Kayla and Jordan Martelli after their tenth annual stand crossed $50,000 in lifetime funds raised, according to city meeting records from the City of Revere. Two years later, in August 2023, then-Acting Mayor Patrick Keefe presented the sisters with the Key to the City for 12 years of fundraising for childhood cancer research, as reported by the Revere Journal.
Why the Money Still Matters
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation was founded in 2005 by Liz and Jay Scott following the death of their 8-year-old daughter Alexandra, who held her first stand in 2000. The foundation has since raised more than $300 million and funded over 1,500 research grants, according to the organization's own account.
Cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States after infancy, according to public health data compiled in the foundation's Childhood Cancer Report 2026, published ahead of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. While overall five-year survival for U.S. pediatric cancer patients reached 85 percent by 2026, the foundation notes that non-profit medical grants remain crucial because childhood cancers receive only a small fraction of general federal cancer research funding — a gap that grassroots efforts like the Martellis' stand are meant to help close.
