Evanston Girl's Lemonade Stand Raises Money for Pit Bulls, Parolees

Hannah Bambic, age 10, has memorized the names and stories of every character on the Animal Planet show, Pit Bulls and Parolees, and her dream is to travel to Villalobos, the pit bull rescue organization featured on the show. 

The dream is coming true this Christmas, when Hannah’s family drives from Evanston to New Orleans to visit the nonprofit that also works with parolees. But the Lincolnwood Elementary School student didn't want to go down there empty-handed--so she decided to raise some money for Villalobos.

“Since pit bulls are such misunderstood dogs, and so are parolees, I felt that if I could help them, then in some way it would help me to become a better person,” says Hannah, who has her own rescue pit bull, named Moe Joe.

Over the course of this summer, Hannah raised more than $400 at two lemonade stands, and is planning another fundraiser at Gulliver’s Pizzeria this Tuesday, Dec. 17, before her family heads down to New Orleans. 

Hannah’s mother, Catherine Wood, says she decided to take the trip in part to take Hannah’s mind off an ongoing struggle with severe allergic reactions. Recently, she went into anaphylactic shock at school, and she regularly suffers blinding headaches, according to Wood. The family is still trying to figure out exactly what is going on.

“I decided [to go] because she had been really sick, and we couldn’t figure out what’s going on and her dream is to go to New Orleans,” Wood explains. “She wants to see these dogs in person.”

Rather than simply go down as a tourist, Wood says it was important to her that the family raise money before they go—and Hannah was gung ho about the idea.

The success of her lemonade stand this summer inspired her to keep going, she says. Perhaps most memorably, one of her Wood’s friends donated a pile of change that turned out to contain about $100. 

“I still remember how shocked my mom looked when we went to the bank,” Hannah says. “I just knew that I should keep doing it, because I was helping dogs and helping other people.”

Asked what she wants to do when she grows up, Hannah says she either wants to become a veterinarian or go to work for Tia Torres, founder of Villalobos.

The fundraiser lasts from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Gulliver’s Pizza, 2727 W. Howard, when the restaurant will donate 15 percent of proceeds to Hannah’s nonprofit, “Pennies for Pit Bulls and Parolees.” Customers must present a flyer (linked here) when paying their bill.