By Kat Bryant

Grays Harbor News Group

In one “crazy busy” day, SusanMarie Peery raised $9,477 for the Cosmopolis Volunteer Fire Department.

In the prior 13 years total, the Cosi teen raised $23,700 with her annual lemonade stand on Main Street. She was hoping to raise enough to top $25,000 during her final effort Aug. 8.

To say she hit her mark would be a gross understatement. The final combined total was $33,249.

“The amount of money raised this year is astonishing and still unbelievable,” SusanMarie said in a prepared statement.

It was an extraordinary effort in many ways. Because of coronavirus precautions, she was not able to offer donors her signature homemade strawberry lemonade this year. Instead, she conducted a raffle and silent auction.

A wooden American flag donated by Nick Bailey of Cosmopolis was auctioned for $325. Bailey created it by piecing together different kinds and colors of wood, including one red stripe signifying support for firefighters.

A signed model of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 8 Nascar went for $60. It was donated by the Dale Jr. Foundation, a longtime supporter of SusanMarie’s fundraising efforts.

The two largest donors this year were the Druzianich Charitable Foundation ($5,000) and Durney Insurance ($1,000).

“I would never have expected to have raised this much money for the Cosmopolis Volunteer Fire Department,” SusanMarie said in her statement, “and none of it would have happened without the support from this whole entire community.”