SUGAR LAND, Texas – From a distance it looks like your average neighborhood lemonade stand. Upon a closer look, you’ll see a Sugar Land brother and sister duo, along with their father, turning life’s lemons into something sweet.
Brian and Amy Liu handed out face masks Tuesday morning to any car that would stop on Commonwealth Boulevard and Briarwood Drive in Sugar Land. You’d think handing out free masks would be easy to do in a neighborhood where people stood in long lines three days outside of Jo-Ann’s Fabrics And Craft to buy materials to make their own.
“We realize that when we put on these masks for our own protection they don’t really approach us because I think they’re kind of like scared or doubtful,” said 14-year-old Amy.
“But when we took it off people were a lot friendlier to us,” added Brian who is 12 years old.
The Lius handed out a thousand masks last week and word spread to their friends in California -- former Houstonians -- who sent them a box with a thousand masks to distribute.
“They just sent us the masks and told us to use it in a good way,” said Brian.
Brian came up with the idea to do a lemonade stand but for masks. Amy made the sign. With the help of their parents, they spent two hours each day safely putting five masks in each bag.
“When we’re packaging these things we always wear gloves and we make sure we wash our hands every single time,” said Amy. “And after we go back home, we would usually sanitize everything.”
The Lius said they just want their neighbors to stay safe.
“As we all know the virus is pretty severe here and we’re just trying to like help people be more aware of their surroundings,” Amy said.
The Luis said they feel a sense of accomplishment helping to spread awareness one mask at a time.