Local Students Raise Money to Help Feed Frontline Workers

By JENNIKA INGRAM | Reporter

Two 11-year-old fifth-graders have recently donated $400 they raised through their Etsy shop to support a fund to help feed frontline workers fighting COVID-19.

Corpus Christi Student Addison Acree and her good friend and neighbor, Haley Simon, started a shop when they were 9 years old called Bath & Body By The Seaside.

The pair, who have been friends since they were little, loved creating things, so they learned how to make bath products. They sell the products in pop-up stores, as well as to their neighbors and friends. More recently, they learned how to make hand sanitizers.

“They have had so much fun creating new products that include soaps, scrubs, candles and now essential oil-infused hand sanitizers,” mother Jennifer Stephens Acree shared with the Palisadian-Post.

And this is not the first time the girls have used Bath & Body By The Seaside to give back: Prior to the pandemic, Acree and Simon raised more than $1,000 for various local charities. They typically donate 50% of all of their profits to charities.

“When the coronavirus hit, they decided they wanted to do something to help and took their offline business online with a new Etsy account,” Jennifer shared, “and the pledge to give half of all proceeds to Help Feed the Frontline Fighting COVID-19.”

World Central Kitchen Inc. launched a GoFundMe campaign for frontline workers on March 24. To date, more than $1.3 million has been raised for local restaurants to feed those on the frontline.

WCK, Inc. serves 14,000 meals per week to dedicated frontline workers at 16 locations across Los Angeles, according to the website.

Acree’s grandmother Sharon Stephens, a longtime resident of the Alphabet Streets with her husband John, shared her thoughts on the girls’ endeavor.

“I’m so proud of what the girls have accomplished in the last two years,” Sharon said. “Their products are all handmade and very high quality.

“I’m very impressed that while being excellent students, they have created a thriving business and have given more than $1,400 to various charities. I can’t wait to see what these young entrepreneurs do next.”

Find out more information about Bath & Body By The Sea at etsy.com/shop/BathBodyByTheSeaside.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story ran with an incorrect last name for John and Sharon Stephens. It has since been updated.