It was another record-breaking year for “Brooke and Koda’s Iced Tea Stand,” the grassroots fundraiser started by two kids that has grown into one of the most inspiring community traditions in the southeast.
This summer, the stand raised a whopping $26,650 to help four-year-old Callie Augustine, who is currently battling B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL).
On Sunday, August 24, Brooke Peters and Dakota (Koda) Reimer, along with their longtime teammate and cancer survivor Marek Hiebert, handed over the giant cheque to Callie’s parents, Colin and Sheyanna Augustine, and their daughters Callie and Hannah.
A Growing Legacy
The iced tea stand, which started with just $600 in sales when Brooke and Koda were much younger, has grown into a full-fledged fundraiser with businesses, politicians, and whole communities backing the cause.
For Brooke, the numbers this year were overwhelming.
“I started crying,” she admitted. “My mom kept saying it would probably be close to what we raised last year, and then it just kept climbing. When we got the cheque from Days Inn Steinbach and saw the final total, I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s a game changer.’”
Koda was just as stunned.
“I was speechless. My mom was keeping me updated, $23,000, then $24,000, and I was like, whoa, calm down!” she laughed. “I mean, thank you, but calm down.”
For Marek, who knows firsthand what it’s like to be on the receiving end of the fundraiser, seeing the total come together was emotional.
“I did not know what to say to it. It was just beautiful,” he said.
The Augustine Family’s Reaction
When the Augustine family saw the cheque revealed, the reaction was one of stunned silence.
“They had an immediate blank expression,” Brooke recalled. “And then right away, they were like, ‘We’re going to save this, and once our lives get back to normal, we want to give back.’ That made me cry. This family is going through something no one should have to go through, and they were already talking about how to pay it forward.”
For Callie’s dad, Colin, the moment was humbling.
“My heart sank,” he said. “I didn’t know what to say. It’s hard to accept something like this, but it’s amazing what they do. Very humbling.”
Colin explained that Callie was diagnosed with leukemia last October, just after her third birthday. Since then, she’s endured months in the hospital, countless transfusions, and complications like pancreatitis.
“She’s amazing,” he said. “She gets skittish when she’s poked, but she powers through. She just turned four in February, and she’s stronger than most adults I know.”
The money, he said, will ease the family’s financial strain, but more importantly, it comes with the encouragement of a community standing behind them.
“We’ll save it and see what happens, and whatever we don’t need, we’ll give back. I just want to thank them for doing this — we’ll never forget it.”
More Than Just a Fundraiser
For Brooke and Koda, the stand has never just been about money. It’s about building relationships with the families they help, and about inspiring the next wave of kids to step in one day.
Brooke explained how meaningful it was when Sheyanna, Callie’s mom, suggested that one day, Callie and her sister Hannah might take up the iced tea stand themselves.
“That’s exactly what we want,” Brooke said. “One day me and Koda, will be too old to be the ones at the stand, nobody wants to buy cookies from grandmas with canes! But by then, we’ll be helping from behind the scenes while new kids step up. Marek has already shown how powerful it is when past recipients become part of the team. We want this to keep going for generations.”
Dakota agreed, saying the whole project has renewed his faith in people.
“It tells me there’s still hope for the world,” he said. “People do care. Even if someone only gives a dollar, that matters. No donation is too small. Every single one of those dollars added up to that final total.”
From $600 to $26,650
The growth of the iced tea stand has been nothing short of remarkable. Brooke and Koda started it when they were just 7 and 9 years old, raising $600 that first summer, with their parents doubling the total.
This year, businesses like Days Inn Steinbach stepped up with large donations, community members flocked to buy treats, and the fundraising snowballed into tens of thousands of dollars.
“It’s inspiring,” Colin said. “I wasn’t thinking about doing stuff like that when I was their age. There’s just something special about them.”
A Community That Keeps Showing Up
Eight years in, the iced tea stand has grown far beyond two kids selling drinks on a hot day. It’s now a symbol of what a determined group of young people, and a generous community, can accomplish together.
As Brooke put it: “We don’t just want to give families a cheque and then move on. We want them in our lives, part of our story, forever.”
And for the Augustine family, and for little Callie, that support is something they’ll never forget.
After the cheque presentation wrapped up, the team that helped make this year's "Brooke & Koda's Iced Tea Stand" such a huge success, noted how grateful they were to the community for their support and shared that they had raised nearly $100,000 over the past eight years.
Of course, giving all the thanks back to their supporters and the generosity of those who donated.