Houston Republic

When PJS Houston Operations Manager Jamie Flores signed up to complete the stair climb fundraiser organized by Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, he thought 76 flights of stairs would be easy. Instead, Flores found himself winded at the 33rd floor.

“I was guilted into finishing it off and so about 2 hours later, I got it done but it wasn’t pretty,”  Flores told the Houston Republic. “It was fun in the sense that it was challenging for us to climb 76 flights of stairs.”

Flores was one of 10 PJS Houston employees who helped raise some $6,000 for the charity, which distributes grants to bring life-saving treatments to seriously ill children. 

“Alex's Lemonade Stand is an organization that we will continue to sponsor,” Flores said in an interview. “The money we raised will be going towards research.”

Alex's Lemonade Stand serves as a financial hub for various organizations that submit applications to fund their research efforts, as well as for parents whose children have cancer to assist in securing money for housing, child care, and other expenses while undergoing treatment.

Although successful, the Nov. 21 event was sharply curtailed this year due to COVID-19 and renamed The Virtual Lemon Climb, according to Flores.

“What that looked like was every step was marked and registered in a fitness app for each individual participant,” he said. “The event was very limited to a small group that was allowed on site and there were temperature checks, masks and all the things we do to be safe. Because of COVID, our employees ended up doing more fundraising than participating.”

The Texas Department of State Health Services dashboard reports 1,157,273 coronavirus cases and 21,309 fatalities statewide as of Nov. 29.

“Next year, we hope things will be calmer with COVID because this year we had shirts and banners made,”  Flores said. “Originally, the event was going to happen in April but, of course, it was postponed and converted to a virtual climb. We hope to double the $6,000 we raised this year in 2021.”

A total of 46 people participated in the event, which took place at Chase Tower in downtown Houston, with 1,000 viewers making donations.

“The Houston chapter of Alex's Lemonade Stand had an official webcam and some of the participants were using FaceTime or Zoom on their personal phone to stream it that way,” Flores said.

PJS Houston was connected with the charity through a customer.

“She had a very personal connection to Alex's Lemonade Stand and started sharing with me that her 4-year-old cousin had died of cancer lymphoma earlier,” Flores said. “This client actually is a founding member for the Houston chapter of Alex's Lemonade Stand. “It's unfortunate that organizations like Alex’s Lemonade Stand exist but it's also a great thing because it gives people relief in an already stressful situation.”