Near Frost Elementary in Frostburg, two boys set up a folding table with a pitcher of lemonade, stacks of plastic cups and a handwritten sign offering drinks for $1.
At the bottom were two words.
“For Carson.”
Will and his friend Alec were raising money for their schoolmate and friend, one small piece of a much larger community response that has taken shape since Carson's family learned earlier this month that his leukemia had returned.
Carson was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in October 2023 and spent 2½ years undergoing treatment before reaching remission. His port was removed in June.
Then came the news his family had desperately hoped was behind them.
The leukemia had relapsed.
When Carson was told, his mother, Kelli Negley, said he had a simple response.
“It’s okay.”
While Carson returned to WVU Medicine Children's in Morgantown for another round of treatment, people back home started finding their own ways to step up for his family.
Some of that support couldn't be measured in dollars.
On Sept. 15, Carson was there when the Mount Savage Minors and Frostburg 3 Minors met on the soccer field.
Mount Savage players wore gold headbands and arm sleeves with ribbons for pediatric cancer awareness. Frostburg players wore yellow-and-black bumblebee socks.
After the game, the teams came together for Carson.
“When one of our kids is fighting, we all fight with them,” Ryan Fletcher wrote afterward.
Others found whatever they had and turned it into a fundraiser.
Students in the Academy of Health and Cosmetology at the CCTE Center for Career and Technical Education held a bake sale. Carson's grandfather is a former Graphic Communications instructor there.
B&B Country Meats initially pledged 25 cents from every Belly Buster sandwich and hoagie sold.
Then came an edit.
“Let’s make it a dollar instead of 25 cents.”
There have also been Courageous Carson shirts, candles, milkshakes and orange ribbon pins. A detailing business pledged 10 percent of sales and all tips through Dec. 15. The Flintstone Civic Association put out a donation jar during games.
Frostburg Freeze made its fundraiser personal.
Carson's favorite order, according to his family, is a twist in a waffle cone with sprinkles.
So from Sept. 13 through the end of its season on Sept. 19, Frostburg Freeze donated 100 percent of the proceeds from every waffle cone sold to Carson's family.
They called it “Cone for Carson.”
The financial support has added up.
A GoFundMe organized for the Negley family has raised more than $24,500 from 182 donations toward a $28,000 goal.
The money is intended to help with travel, lodging, meals, medical and household expenses as Carson's parents, Kelli and Michael, travel between home and Morgantown while also caring for his younger brother, Cam.
Carson remains in treatment, and recent updates from his family have described a difficult stretch that included repeated spinal taps and a platelet transfusion.
Back home, the support isn't finished.
A Bike Night for Courageous Carson is scheduled at Lashbaughs West on Oct. 3, with live music, raffles and a 50/50 to raise more money for the family.
The lemonade stand may have been considerably smaller.
But its message was the same one Western Maryland has been sending Carson all month.
For Carson.
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