Four 10-year-old friends sell cookies & lemonade to aid Boston bombing victim's family. Photo by Kerry Sanders / NBC News

In the town of Squantum, just southeast of Boston, four little girls found a way to turn the tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombing into a plan of action for good. These ten-year-olds, all best friends, wanted to raise money to help the family of Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy who died in the bombing.

Squantum is a small bedroom community of just 400 families. It was here the girls set up a lemonade and baked goods stand just outside the Kennedy Library. Though none of the girls personally knew Martin, they knew they wanted to help.

Brigid Norris said the group had hoped to make $100 but had so far raised over $3,000.

The girls, like the rest of the world watched the unfolding stories and learned Martin had been standing near the finish line of the race with his family when the bombs ripped through the area. His mother Denise received a brain injury. Martin’s 6-year-old sister lost a leg in the blast.

Ciara O’Connors is the one who came up with the idea. She said she would want people to help her if this had happened to her.

Trisha Loney, the mother of one of the little do-gooders, Mary Loney, kept vigil over the girls while they sold their goods to an appreciative public. She said the girls saw a picture of Martin and realized he was just like them and all their friends and that put it in perspective for them.

As the money piles up in the little toy cash register they are using, the girls are amazed at their success. Brigid was amazed that four or five people gave $100 and didn’t even take a cookie.

The quartet has pledged to five all the money to the Richard family.

Mary Loney talked about being up till past midnight working on signs and baking brownies. Lauren Manning was excited to be able to do something good.

Customer Tina Dellorfano told the kids what a great thing they were doing when she stopped to buy cookies. She said it is the small moments of goodness that will help us forget the bombing.

Youngster raises $80,000 for cancer research with lemonade stand. Photo by NBCNEWS.com (screen capture)

As a youngster of 5, Max Igoe learned about breast cancer and grief when the disease took the life of his mother’s best friend. As a way of dealing with the loss, the La Habra, CA tike found an outlet for his pain in a lemonade stand.

When asked why he chose that, Max, now 14, says it was the first idea that came to him.

His mother, Nicki Igoe, said her son was aware that that her friend was very sick with something called cancer. The woman had battled the disease for the better part of ten years before losing the fight.

Max wanted to set up the lemonade stand to raise money for breast cancer research, a noble thought. His mother tried explaining that people just didn’t do that anymore. She tried to explain that driveways lemonade stands were not as popular as they had once been but she didn’t’ want to stifle his generosity or hurt his feelings. He was still grieving the loss of his friend, Beth Rorman, and wanted to do something meaningful.

Instead, they set up a table and decorated it with homemade signs. She made juice and let Max go to work. This past weekend Max set up his stand for the ninth consecutive year.  He and his mom have mixed up hundreds of gallons of pink lemonade in the name of cancer research fund raising, held raffles and casino night fundraisers and spent days of painstaking labor working on their efforts.

Max never thought he would raise more than $80,000 will all of his hard work but he is delighted at the results. What is his goal now? He wants to raise $1 million and find a cure.

After the hard work of each sale is behind him, Nicki always asks if he thinks he’ll want to do it again. The answer is always a resounding ‘Yes!’

Lemonade helped raise $10,000 for medical costs for one family. Photo Credit by tuareq/SXC

Little 6-year-old Drew Cox is one of those kids who take action when the situation calls for it. The oldest of three Cox family kids took it upon himself to help out with his dad’s medical bills by opening a lemonade stand in his hometown of Gladewater, Texas. Not even his parents expected what happened next.

His father, Randy Cox, learned earlier this year that he had seminoma, a type of cancer usually found in the testicles. Randy’s cancer, however is not in the testicles but rather in other areas of his body, like the chest. Chemotherapy is expected to treat the cancer successfully.

Drew, realizing how important his Dad is to him, decided to help out in the only way a six-year-old could – with a lemonade stand.  So on a Saturday morning, Drew set up shop outside the family’s home and began selling lemonade for 25 cents per cup. As word spread about Drew and his efforts to help his dad, people began showing up from dozens of miles away to buy lemonade. One customer was so moved; he left a check for $5,000. When the day came to a close, Drew’s take was more than $10,000 according to his family.

A close family friend, Tameka Royal, is also doing her part to help Randy. Royal has been friends with Drew’s mother, Tonya Cooley Cox, since the two attended dance class at age 6. She became friends with Randy when they met in high school. Learning of her friend’s cancer, Royal wanted to do something, too. She created a website account for taking donations to help the family, www.giveforward.com/randycox.

Drew and his siblings, Jake, 4, and Micah, 7 months, their mom and family friend Royal should be able to enjoy Randy Cox’s good health for years to come as a result of the fund-raising efforts Drew and Royal undertook.