Siblings Noa Shapira, left, and Lila Shapira run a lemonade stand for floaters along the Deschutes River from a dock on their grandparents' property in Sunriver over the Fourth of July weekend.

Elden Rosenthal learned to fly fish 42 years ago after he and his wife, Margie, purchased a home abutting the Deschutes River, about a mile and a half upriver from the Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory.

For the first 30 years, the Rosenthals sat in the living room after dark, watching as the picture windows filled with buzzing insects, an indication of a healthy river.

Slowly, they watched as the insects disappeared and fish populations declined. Since 1982, the Rosenthals have witnessed the river warming, a microcosm of global environmental shifts, a climate in crisis.

“There’s no insects anymore,” Elden said. “When we sit in the living room in August, now there’s no insects. There’s none. Zero.”

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Free lemonade for floaters

The Rosenthals worry about what climate change will mean for their grandchildren, Noa Shapira, 6, and Lila Shapira, 9.

Over the summer, the Shapira family visited Central Oregon and for a fun activity that doubled as a lesson in doing good deeds, Elden helped his grandchildren set up a lemonade stand on his dock that juts over the Deschutes River. They handed out free lemonade to floaters, expecting most in river tubes wouldn’t have money in their pockets.

Elden hoped one or two people might give a small amount that could be passed on to the Deschutes Land Trust, a nonprofit conserving Central Oregon’s land and waterways.

Those who accepted glasses of lemonade received a small note that read, “The Deschutes, and other local rivers, need your help. A small gift to the Deschutes Land Trust would be great! Thanks, Lila and Noa!”

By the end of the day, a good time was had and $36 was raised, which the family donated to the Land Trust.

The family never could have predicted what would happen next.

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A $25,000 donation

Three weeks later, the Rosenthals received a letter from the Land Trust indicating that the family’s good deed inspired a $25,000 donation from the McCabe Walls Family Foundation.

According to the Land Trust, the lemonade stand had made an impression on Chuck Walls and Micki McCabe, who wanted Noa and Lila to know that they could make a big difference in the world.

Elden said, “We were just knocked over. We just never expected anything like that. I mean, that’s such a generous gift.”

The donation was the highlight of the summer for the Land Trust, according to Rika Ayotte, executive director of the organization.

“Our work can be challenging in so many ways, but Noa, Lila and the whole Rosenthal family give us hope for the future of conservation. We hope this generous gift from the McCabe Walls Family Foundation inspires more people to support what they believe in, even in small ways,” she said.

As Elden recounts the story, it is met with a recurring remark.

“When you do a good deed, you just never know what the repercussions are going to be,” he said.

“Our work can be challenging in so many ways, but Noa, Lila and the whole Rosenthal family give us hope for the future of conservation. We hope this generous gift from the McCabe Walls Family Foundation inspires more people to support what they believe in, even in small ways.” — Deschutes Land Trust Executive Director Rika Ayotte