This Popular Musician Blessed Kids with $700 at Lemonade Stand
By Movieguide® Contributor
Country singer Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, donated $700 to some kids in Utah selling lemonade last weekend.
“The 39-year-old ‘Save Me’ singer’s appearance came before he launched his Beautifully Broken Tour at the Delta Center in nearby Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Aug. 27,” PEOPLE reported.
One of the kids’ moms, Wendy Gardunio, shared about the event on her social media.
She said, “So today was an interesting day, my kid and her cousins wanted to do a lemonade stand. And they had a famous singer come and buy some lemonade,” Gardunio captioned the post. “Who would have thought that we would run into Jelly Roll in West Valley. And for him to be so generous with giving them almost $700.”
Instead of giving 50 cents, which is what the little girl who sold him the lemonade said he owed, he handed her a large wad of bills.
“You go buy something really nice, okay? Cause you worked hard,” DeFord told her.
“We really couldn’t be more grateful, thanks to jelly roll,” Gardunio said.
His generosity doesn’t stop there. The musician recently announced that all net profits from each pre-order for his album, Beautifully Broken, on his web store will go to organizations that help people with mental health and addiction issues.
As a recovered drug addict, Movieguide® reported why it’s important to DeFord to help others with their addiction struggles:
“I had to learn that you could drink alcohol without doing cocaine. It took me a long time to learn that,” he told PEOPLE. “I’ve never said that, but that’s real. There was a long time where I just assumed, when people told me they drank without doing cocaine, I was like, I thought we only drank to do cocaine.”
Jelly Roll never went to a rehabilitation center for his addiction, but he does frequently visit various centers and even jails to encourage those in the same situation he was in.
“I always said that if I ever got in this situation, I would do everything I could to give back,” he said. “The fact that just me showing up places can make people happy is such a gift, and I feel like if God gave me that gift, I should show up.”
He told The New York Times, “I’m looking for songs that have a purpose. When I go to put out a song under the name Jelly Roll, I think to myself, Why?”
“Because for the first time in my life, it has nothing to do with a financial decision. I’m well past putting out anything for money. So, now, it really is a why,” he explained.
DeFord grew up in Antioch, Tennessee, and went to juvie several times. He recently helped fund Nashville’s Youth Campus for Empowerment.
“Make these kids feel loved and give them a chance in life. A lot of these kids are victims of their circumstances. This is a really great chance to change things,” he said.
“On Friday, Aug. 23, the country star revealed the follow-up to his 2023 album Whitsitt Chapel is set to be released on Oct. 11,” PEOPLE said. “Jelly’s upcoming 10th studio album will feature singles like ‘I Am Not Okay’ and ‘Liar,’ as well as the rousing ‘Get By,’ which was recently selected by ESPN to be the 2024 College Football Season anthem.”
