Mac Brown's Awesome Lemonade Stand

This story originally appeared in the September 21, 2019 issue of Rebel: The Official Gameday Magazine of Ole Miss Football.

Back in seventh grade, Ole Miss punter Mac Brown decided to play his part in the long battle that a friend's dad was fighting against ALS, a debilitating neurodegenerative disease. They started selling lemonade with a modest goal of raising $500 in mind, but closed up shop that day with nearly $2,000 in hand.

"He made a difference in my life," Brown said. "Seeing the struggle that his family went through—that was one of the first losses in my life that I experienced firsthand. Seeing his family watch him go through the pain of him fighting for life made me want to get off my couch and do something as well."

Nine years later, the Awesome Lemonade Stand is still doing its part in the fight against ALS, and Brown and his friends are closing in on nearly $70,000 raised, all from selling lemonade for the price of a quarter.

Michael Brandt, whose diagnosis led to the inaugural Awesome Lemonade Stand, passed away as a result of his disease, as have thousands of others like him. It is estimated that nearly 5,000 people a year will be diagnosed with the disease, and that harrowing fact only serves as a daily reminder for Brown to keep up the fight.

"The other day, we got a letter from a man in Mississippi who told us he'd been diagnosed with ALS, and sent in 100 dollars for us," Brown said. "Every day there's just little reminders you get to keep pushing. You know, it's not always easy, but ALS isn't easy, so that's why we do it. We do it for Mr. Brandt."

What began as a simple fundraiser has turned into a passion and annual tradition for Brown and his family. They host the Awesome Lemonade Stand each year in his hometown of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, selling customers glasses of homemade lemonade for just 25 cents a pop, though the operation has grown exponentially since its infancy.

"It just really took off," Brown said. "It was really special seeing the community all rally behind it. Each year we've just tried to keep building on it, making it bigger and bigger."

It started with his tight-knit community in Minnesota, but as Brown continued to excel on the football field before ultimately bringing his talents down to Oxford, he's found a new community eager to join the cause – the Ole Miss family. Since then, he's seen the donations pour in.

"We get some really generous donations," Brown said. "People are giving us 20 dollars just for a glass of lemonade. It just really shows the power of the community in Minnesota and Ole Miss that people want to take the time just to donate to a good cause."

The Rebel family has been able to do their part through Brown's website, where anybody can donate online, but they will soon be able to get a firsthand taste of Brown's awesome lemonade. The Ole Miss punter, with the help of a few of his teammates and Rebel staffers, plan on hosting Oxford's very own Awesome Lemonade Stand right in front of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium before the Vanderbilt game on Oct. 5.

For most of Rebel Nation, it will be their first taste of the awesome lemonade, but not for Brown's fellow specialist, Rebel kicker Luke Logan. Logan and Brown, first freshman roommates and now friends bonded for life, have a special relationship, one that saw Logan even travel all the way up to Minnesota just to sell some lemonade.

"They've just been great experiences," Logan said. "You start early in the morning and people start driving by slowly and slowly, and all of a sudden you just get hit with a rush of people once the word gets out. There's just 100 kids holding one and two dollar bills, and it's great to see kids just walk up and hand you whatever they can."

Logan, a Mississippi native, has seen firsthand the power of the Ole Miss community, and has helped Brown extend his campaign into the deep south.

"With the power of social media, it's really been able to take off," Logan said. "People have been giving money that would have never even known about this cause. The Ole Miss family is a huge community, and like Coach Luke says, 'You don't have to be blood to be family.' I think that's super true with something like this."

While Brown and his friends might just be selling a cold, refreshing beverage, they want potential donors to know that the money is buying people much more than a glass of lemonade.

"Pretty much every person can find somebody down the line that's been affected by ALS," Logan said. "It's a great cause, and it's a disease that affects a lot of people, but with the help of everybody, it can be defeated."

In 2019, the Awesome Lemonade Stand saw its profits exceed $17,000 all in a day's work, and just this week, Brown crossed the $69,000 donation threshold since he first began – and there's no end in sight. Brown just wants to keep seeing the donations pour in.

"Every penny counts," Brown said. "It's just 25 cents for a glass of lemonade, but 25 cents can make a difference. A simple lemonade stand can go a long way."

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Mac Brown

Luke Logan

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