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Lemonade for a cause.
By Emily Francos — Written on Jul 01, 2020
A shooting at an Applebee's in Missouri left volunteer firefighter Arlydia Bufford seriously injured, one other woman critically injured, and the another dead.
This shooting took place on Monday, June 22, 2020 around 9:30 p.m., reports KMOV4 News.
Bufford, a twenty-year-old firefighter/EMT, had just finished her EMT training class before going to Applebee's and was sitting with other first responders when the gunman opened fire on the group.
St. Johns Police Chief Robert Connell reported that the gunman was acting suspicious and was pacing around the restaurant for about forty minutes before he entered the restaurant.
Connell said, "What we do know is that the suspect then left the restaurant, came back in and as he did he brushed up against one of the waitresses and — I'm not going to give the exact quote — but basically he said things were about to get real. At that point, he turned and shot the first victim and as he shot the first victim he turned to walk away, walked about 3-4 steps turned around and shot the second victim in the same booth."
In a statement, Applebee's wrote, “The safety of our guests and team members is a top priority, and we’re devastated about the guest incident that occurred within our restaurant. Our thoughts are with the victims’ families. We are temporarily closing the restaurant for professional cleaning and to provide team members with counseling resources and expect to reopen later this week. We will continue to cooperate with authorities and due to the ongoing police investigation we cannot comment further."
This tragic incident upset 5-year-old Cooper Wallweber and his family so much that Cooper decided to give the proceeds from his own lemonade stand to Bufford for her recovery.
Cooper's idea came after he ruined a new pair of sneakers by hiding slime inside. His mom decided to give him a list of chores to do around the house so he could earn himself a new pair of shoes. He did his chores and other jobs, but could not make enough money to buy his new pair of shoes.
So, after recruiting his sister Olivia, they started a lemonade stand to raise the last of the money he needed to buy his shoes.
But when he heard about the shooting, he personally decided to donate all of the proceeds he collected to Bufford and her recovery.
Cooper told KMOV4 News, "She got shot really bad and was in the hospital."
With the help of his sister Olivia, Cooper made a lemonade stand that gained a lot of attention because so many people were stopping to buy their lemonade for their cause.
Olivia said, “It was like we were a drive-thru service. It was non-stop," and “We had six officers come out, two ambulances, two fire trucks, another truck as we were leaving.”
One person even donated $100 without wanting lemonade. All she wanted to do was thank them for what they were doing.
Olivia said, “I broke down and cried. I didn’t know how to feel. I was just stunned. I expected maybe $100-$200 and we ended up with over $1,000.”
They raised $1,132 exactly.
The Kinloch Fire Protection District made Cooper an honorary firefighter for his generous actions to raise money for one of their own.
The police department also came out and supported Bufford through this little boy's fundraiser.
Even though they did not know this person, her story touched them in a way that matters most. The children met her mom and are hoping Bufford makes a speedy recovery.
Bufford is slowly recovering and healing with the whole world praying for her.
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Emily Francos is a writer who covers astrology, pop culture, and relationship topics.