Susie Marie started a lemonade stand when she was 4 years old to buy candy for herself. However, a little friendly prompting from her family easily persuaded her to donate the money to the Cosmopolis Fire Department. She proudly handed over her earnings: $13.

Last year, that little lemonade stand brought in just under $3,500 — which was, as in each previous year, donated to the fire department.

Susie Marie, who recently turned 14, is setting up shop again this weekend. Among her helpers are Kallie Distler, Lauren King, Teagan Fauber, Zoe Vassey and her proud grandmother Ann Peery, along with Peery’s cousin Mona West.

“My dad was a fire chief down in California,” said Peery. He had just passed away when Susie Marie first asked if she could open the stand, and her grandmother suggested she donate the money to the local fire department.

“That first year, she was open five or six hours,” said Peery. “And every year it’s gotten bigger.”

Even though she was only open a half-day for each of the first several years, the money she collected grew exponentially, from $13 in 2007 to last year’s record total of $3,471.55.

“When we put it up on Facebook, I had people calling us when we were still only open a half-day, telling us they were going to be in town and didn’t know if they could make it in time,” said Peery. Every year since then, the stand has been open for two full days: Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“Last year it rained the whole weekend, and we still broke the record,” said Peery. “This community has really rallied behind this. There is a lot of support in this community.”

Susie Marie’s lemonade stand has raised just over $16,000 for the department to date, and the community has rallied behind her efforts. Bank of the Pacific has been advertising the annual event on its electronic reader board for many years. The Dennis Co., Swanson’s and other local businesses contribute supplies. And for the past seven or eight years, said Peery, Jay’s Farmstand has donated the strawberries for a stand favorite: strawberry lemonade topped with whipped cream.

“We put in special ingredients. We don’t tell anybody what they are!” Peery said.

Susie Marie’s charitable efforts don’t end with the lemonade stands. Every year she collects fuzzy socks to send to children in India at Christmastime. At the moment there are boxes of stuffed animals that will also eventually find their way to needy kids in India.

“She does a lot,” said Peery. “She likes to tutor kids, and she’s just someone who has always been kind.”

Her kindness and dedication have led to donations from as far away as Australia and gained Susie Marie a staunch supporter in the form of a NASCAR legend.

“Someone who’s been her biggest supporter is Dale Earnhardt Jr.,” said Peery. “He sent us a basket to auction off, sends her letters all the time and talks about her on his Twitter account.”

The lemonade stand will be open Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the corner of First and C streets in Cosmopolis.

If you’d like to support Susie Marie’s charitable efforts, donations can be mailed to the fire department at P.O. Box 701, Cosmopolis, WA 98537.