Alexandra "Alex" Scott (January 18, 1996 – August 1, 2004) was an American cancer patient who operated a lemonade stand to raise money for research into such childhood cancers as the strain that ultimately killed her at the age of 8.
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Alex was born in Manchester, Connecticut, but she and her family moved to Wynnewood, Pennsylvania to be closer to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where she was treated. During her short life, she attended Penn Wynne Elementary School. She was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer, two days before her first birthday. Alex asked her parents if she could open up a lemonade stand so she could raise some money to give to her hospital so they can have enough money to help the other kids who had cancer. Alexandra was 8 years old when she died.
In July 2000, she decided that she would open a lemonade stand to raise money to help children with cancer. In spite of her own failing health, for four years, aided by her older brother, she did so. They held an annual "Alex's Lemonade Stand for Childhood Cancer" on the family's front lawn. The charity that Alex's idea had inspired managed to raise $1 million before she died at age 8.
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, a non-profit organization, addresses eradicating childhood cancer. Childhood cancers are the number one disease killer of children in the United States under the age of 15, and second overall, only behind accidents. Progress in treating childhood cancer has been dramatic in the last three decades largely due to increased funding for research.
Alex's idea inspired a national fund-raising movement, complete with thousands of volunteers across the country carrying on her legacy of hope. The Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 charity, has raised more than $30 million towards fulfilling Alex’s dream of finding a cure, funding over 80 research projects nationally.