Two boys from Seven Kings whose Lemonade for Yemen-Aid stand went viral after being featured in the Ilford Recorder are this month’s Young Citizen nominees.
Best mates Ayaan Moosa and Mikaeel Ishaaq, both six, set up the stand outside their home to raise money for Yemen after they heard about the plight of children there who are starving.
They made promotional videos and told all their classmates to come along.
The boys thought they might raise £100 but ended up raising more than £5,000 and thousands more after the story took off.
The fundraiser went towards the Yemen Crisis Appeal which has raised almost £48,000.
After they were featured in the Recorder the boys and their family were interviewed on the BBC, ITV, the radio and featured in stories around the world.
Ayaan told the Recorder it was amazing to raise so much money “but also because we were on TV all the people will know that we’re raising awareness for Yemen and raising money so by the end of this we’ll have like trillions and trillions of dollars to help Yemen.”
Mikaeel said: “If we don’t help the children in Yemen they might get sick and die.”
Ayaan’s mum Adeela Moosa said: “The boys worked so hard and we’re so happy for them and all the attention really helped with donations.
“They don’t fully understand the enormity of it and we never imagined it would get this far.”
Ayaan’s dad Shakil added: “We are immensely proud of what the boys accomplished.”
The Ilford Recorder/Redbridge Rotary Club Young Citizen Award celebrates the great things being achieved by young people of Redbridge, aged 25 and under.
Each month’s nominee will be invited to the Mayor’s Community Awards night in March and an overall winner will be announced.
The winner will receive £100 from Redbridge Rotary Club and will, along with the runner-up, go through to the national Young Citizen final run by Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland.
To nominate, visit www.redbridgerotaryclub.org/contact giving information about the nominee and contact details.
To contribute to Yemen Appeal visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/team-yemen
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