'Lemonade Stand Kid' Sets Sights On Raising Money For Testing Detroit Rape Kits
DETROIT (WWJ) - A Detroit teen has a new focus for fundraising and it continues to center around his concern for the city and justice for victims of violent crime.
Joshua Smith was just 9-years-old when he modestly opened a lemonade stand with the lofty goal of raising money to help the financially distressed city of Detroit -- at the time -- dealing with the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Four years wiser - the freshly minted 13-year-old is revisiting the fundraising theme -- this time to raise money for the testing of Detroit rape kits through the African American 490 Challenge (AA490).
The effort beginning last year urges people to raise multiples of $490 — the cost of processing a single rape kit. The 490 Challenge is working with Enough SAID (Enough Sexual Assault In Detroit).
"I want our community and city to be safe, and I think catching rapists is the right way to go," said Smith. "I want the victims to feel safe and that they have hope."
Joshua hopes to exceed the $3,600 he raised during his five-day effort for Detroit. "I am only doing two days this summer because I don't have the time like when I was nine, due to two jobs—one at a restaurant and one mentoring young kids ... even though I don't have as much time, I want to help; I want to do my part."
With state funding, Michigan and the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office have tested more than 10,000 of the 11,341 kits that were found in a Detroit police property storage facility in 2009. Some of the sexual assaults occurred as far back as 1984. Testing has led to thousands of DNA matches and the identification of more than 549 serial rapists.
Dozens of offenders have been convicted as a result of the tests.
Joshua's fundraiser will be July 25 and 26, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in front of his home in the 4200 block of Leslie Street in Detroit. He says that those who can't make it to his stand those days can still donate online at www.aa490challenge.org and place in the notes section "Joshua Smith fundraiser."
More about the backlog of rape kits and latest fundraiser initiative from Erykah Badu.
