Girl fights city hall to help tsunami victims.

Carolyn Lipsick, a 10-year-old Miami Beach fourth grader, wanted to help victims of the terrible tsunami. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Carolyn's philosophy is, "You can't just think of yourself, you have to think of other people."

Carolyn decided a lemonade stand would be the best way to raise money. And since Desiree Lipsick, Carolyn's mother, is completely law abiding, she called the city of Miami Beach to see if a permit would be required for her daughter to sell lemonade. A clerk at city hall told Mrs. Lipsick that food vending is not allowed in the city, so Carolyn could not get a license.

Carolyn was understandably upset. In her words: "I got really, really mad."

Carolyn's morn decided to call a Miami TV station to ask for their help. In a story in the Miami Herald, Carolyn's mother said the family wasn't seeking publicity when she called the station. She just wanted to find a place where Carolyn could sell her lemonade.

However, the TV coverage attracted the attention of Florida's Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, who paid for Carolyn to fly to Tallahassee and set up a stand to sell lemonade and cookies at the state capitol right outside his office. Carolyn netted $492 from the sale of refreshments to people in the capitol, and Mr. Gallagher added an additional $8 to make it an even $500.

"I'm not going to get into whether the city's right or wrong. It bothers me to see any child shut down when all they're doing is opening a lemonade stand," Gallagher told the Associated Press. "I think that's exciting for them to do it. And when they're doing it for charity, it's even more."

City officials told reporters after the publicity started that the licensing problem was all a misunderstanding--if the girl had set up her stand without a license, officials would not have harassed her. A spokeswoman for the city told reporters: "We would have worked with the family to help the little girl out." The spokeswoman added that after he learned of Carolyn's dilemma, "the police chief offered to let her use the police station."

When Carolyn returned home, a Jewish community center worked with her to set up a fund-raiser to generate additional aid for tsunami victims.

Carolyn's summation of her experience was: "I feel like I've been useful to other people in other places."