Kellen Beam, Kayla Beam and Madeline Dennis sold pink lemonade in August and made a special donation to the Chugiak-Eagle River Senior Center. STAR PHOTO by DARRELL L. BREESE

When it comes to giving gifts, the old adage tells us "It is the thought that counts." That's the case with a recent donation received by the Chugiak-Eagle River Senior Center.

"It's probably one of the most generous gifts we've received in the time I've been with the center," said Linda Hendrickson, the executive director for the center.

The donation -- $3.86, came from three children who sold pink lemonade one afternoon in late August.

"While it is not a lot of money, it is significant gift because of the people it came from," Hendrickson said of the childrens' generosity. "Everyone who hears about what these kids did has marveled at what the donation means. It's refreshing to see such generosity coming from young children. They have such big hearts."

The children, Kellen Beam, 6, Layla Beam, 7, and Madeline Dennis, 9, presented the gift to the center Nov. 7, during the annual Holiday Bazaar.

"These kids just walked up to me and said they had a donation for the center, and handed me an envelope," said Judy Guiles activity director at the center. "They were all smiling and happy."

Guiles opened the envelope and found the money and two hand-written notes from the children.

"Dear senior senter we workt hard on the lenonad stand. We want you to have this munea!" one of the two notes read.

Madeleine came up with the idea for the lemonade stand.

"It was a nice warm sunny day, so we figured a lemonade stand would be a fun thing to do," Madeleine said. "So we made signs and set up a table at the end of the road."

The trio transported everything necessary for the stand from their homes on Glenn Hill Circle to the intersection of Chapel Drive in Peters Creek.

"It took a couple of trips to get everything set up," Layla said. "I was going back and forth on my scooter."

Once they began selling lemonade, a neighbor suggested the children donate the money they raised to a good cause.

"We liked the idea," Kellen said. "So we chose the senior center."

The senior center came to mind because it is close to where they live and the girls enjoyed visiting the center last Christmas with the Girl Scouts and the school choir.

"The people at the senior center seemed to enjoy us being there," Layla said of the holiday visit. "We figured they would like the donation."

Erin Beam, Kellen and Layla's mother, said she was impressed with the kids' decision to donate the money to the center.

"It's nice to see them thinking about other people," she said. "They weren't doing it for themselves or for any special recognition. They just wanted to do something nice for someone else. As a mother that is special."

She wasn't the only one to feel good about the donation.

"We could have been greedy and kept all the money to buy some doughnuts," Kellen said. "But it felt good to give it to the senior center."

"It made me feel warm and good inside," Madeleine said. "We were happy to be there."

After receiving the gift, Guiles tried to get an address from the children so she could send them a thank-you note, but the children and Erin Beam said that wasn't necessary.

"I thought it was very cute and very special," Guiles said. "They had done this all on their own and I thanked them over and over."

Guiles said the center has no special plans for the donation, but said it would be used to pay for something just for the residents.

The lemonade stand might not be the end of the philanthropic acts of the three children.

Layla said the feeling she got from donating was so good that she'd like to do something like it again.

"Maybe we'll sell hot chocolate sometime this winter," she said. "I think people would like that, especially in the winter."

Reach the reporter at darrell.breese.@alaskastar.com.