SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- Quite often tragedies, like the Valley Fire, bring out the best in people. Even the youngest can make a big difference. Just ask Lemon Grove resident Tiffany Klein, who had to explain to her 3-year-old son Nicholas, why the sky looked so smokey and gloomy over the last week.
"Ash was falling and the sky was dark, which was odd. So Nicholas asked me what was going on, he didn't quite understand."
And when Tiffany told her son about the dangerous fires burning near Alpine, his response was a bit surprising for a young child.
"He asked if people were getting hurt," said Tiffany. "I told him, as of that time, that no one had gotten hurt, but some people had lost their homes. So he asked me if he could raise money by doing a lemonade stand."
Despite being 3-years-old, Nicholas wanted to lend a hand, even if he wasn't quite sure what was going on.
"I wanted to help the people that lost their homes,"said Nicholas.
And how could any parent say no to such a great request.
"I was mind blown. He said yes mommy, I want to help them find their homes, because he assumed they were lost."
So the family went to work building a lemonade stand, and squeezing their own lemons.
"He had to build his own lemonade stand, and he went out and picked lemons from a lemon tree."
By selling lemonade, he hoped to raise 7 dollars.
"Seven dollars is huge to him and i said OK, let's try to get that goal."
Nicholas easily raised the 7 dollars, and a whole lot more.
"He doesn't understand what he did yet," says his mom. "Because he's over 500 dollars right now."
Nicholas plans to donate the money to the Burn Institute in a ceremony on Friday.
