LA Times · Aug 29, 2015
Washington state reservation meets fire threat with generosity
Catherine Selam, right, now known as the lemonade lady at the community center in Nespelem, Wash., talks with a firefighter as her daughter Lexi makes lemonade. (William Yardley / Los Angeles Times)The lemonade lady lives in subsidized housing on the reservation. She has lupus. Her joints ache. Her energy ebbs.
When the wildfires started a few weeks ago and smoke began filling the air, she went on the Internet to search for an air purifier. She could not afford a new one. She put a query on Facebook and received a response from someone many miles away. How much did he want for it?
His reply, "How about I just loan it to you?"
What kindness, she thought. She had never met him.