6-year-old raises nearly $7,000 in hot cocoa, lemonade sales for slain deputy’s family

A 6-year-old Indiana boy raised about $7,000 in beverage sales over the course of two days to benefit the family of a fallen police officer.

What's the history?

Deputy Jacob Pickett, 34, lost his life in early March after chasing suspects connected to a case of probation violation.

Pickett was the first Boone County officer to be killed in the line of duty since 1935.

According to the Indianapolis Star, Pickett was a five-year veteran of the sheriff's office and led the department's K-9 team.

Pickett left behind a wife and two young children.

How did the 6-year-old raise so much money?

Malachi Fronczak, the 6-year-old behind the fundraiser, and his family operate a grassroots lemonade stand titled, "Malachi's Magnificent Lemonade."

Malachi's "business" has his own Facebook page called "Malachi's Magnificent Lemonade," which, at the time of this writing, has nearly 2,000 followers.

Last week, a post on Malachi's Facebook page revealed that he and his family planned to raise money for the Pickett family through his sales.

"We have a plan for Malachi's Magnificent Lemonade to be set up This Friday, March 9th from 12-4 at Solidarity Community Federal Credit Union," the post read. "The address is 201 Southway Blvd. Kokomo, In 46902. Please stop by and get some yummy lemonade while showing support to Deputy Jacob Pickett's family."

WTHR-TV reported that Malachi, through his hot cocoa and lemonade sales, raised $5,200 on Friday and $1,750 on Saturday.

"It's wonderful," Malachi's father, Jason, told WTHR. "Anytime your kids have a big heart, want to serve others, I think it's important as a parent to support that. It's great to see him out wanting to do that."

Jason Fronczak told the Dubois County Herald that some people who attended the weekend events generously forked over as much as $100 for a cup of lemonade.

Anything else?

The "about" section of Malachi's page reads, "Malachi's Magnificent Lemonade is set up in Kokomo, Indiana. Police, Firemen and Soldiers receive FREE lemonade."

The Herald also noted that this isn't the first time Malachi and his family have done something of this sort to benefit law enforcement families. The outlet reported that Malachi raised $2,000 over the summer to benefit the family of Southport, Indiana, officer who was killed.

On Sunday, Malachi and his family visited Pickett's memorial and shared many moving photos on the Facebook page.