Deputies delight during stop at children’s lemonade stand

Jasenta Kendall stood outside a lemonade stand late Saturday morning in the 4400 block of 21st Avenue West in Bradenton. With the 25-year-old was her daughter, Damiani Hernz, and nephew, Rylan Barkman.

“We do lemonade stands sometimes to raise money for certain things,” Kendall said.

This time, it was for new soccer equipment for Damiani, who is 3 years old. As they managed the lemonade stand, Kendall said she noticed a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy drive by. Her 6-year-old nephew, she said, had just gotten a police toy set earlier that day and was disappointed when the deputy continued past them.

“About 30 minutes later, the same guy came back with two more sheriff’s deputies and they stopped by for about 20 minutes,” Kendall said. “They gave them stickers and just hung out for a little bit. My daughter and nephew were really surprised. My nephew was really intrigued and excited. ... It was really exciting for them.”

Sgt. Marc Franczyk and deputies JoAnn Parkinson and Gerald Young spent some time by the stand, which brought even more people, according to Kendall.

Damiani was overwhelmed with the attention, Kendall said. A neighbor posted a video of the interaction, which Kendall said went viral.

“Great lemonade stand! Pictured here are Sergeant Franczyk, Deputy Parkinson and Deputy Young. Thank you for the note and support!” read a post on the sheriff’s office Facebook page accompanied by a note praising the deputies for the kind act.

“It was really surprising,” Kendall said. “With all the negative stuff we see in the past six months, it was really just a positive thing... it’s really cool.”

This story was originally published September 29, 2016 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Deputies delight during stop at children’s lemonade stand."