In 2006, at the age of five, Evan Greenberg ’26 had a simple wish: to keep people warm during the wintertime with some hot cocoa. He told his parents about the idea and they collectively decided that they would sell hot cocoa and then donate all the proceeds to people in need. Along with his brother Josh, who was three at the time, they created Evan and Joshua’s Hot Cocoa Stand, a fundraising effort that recently marked its nineteenth year.

For the first four years, the fundraiser was small and operated out of their family’s garage. The fifth year, the stand was relocated to a local ice cream store and expanded to include raffling off prizes from local vendors, as well as sports memorabilia. From the twelve year and on, after the ice cream store closed, the hot cocoa stand has operated out of the Westchester Mall in White Plains, New York.

In 2024, Evan and Joshua’s Hot Cocoa Stand was able to raise over $7,000 for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation, bringing the fundraiser’s grand total to $95,000 over its nearly two decades. Initially donating to a handful of local charities, including the Pediatric Cancer Foundation (PCF) in their first few years, in their fourth year of operation Evan and Josh decided to start donating all of their proceeds to the PCF, as their friend’s mom, Nancy, is an ambassador for the organization.

Greenberg stated that this year’s fundraising efforts were critically important, as the federal government had just cut some federal funding for pediatric cancer research. “Being able to give back to the community and help support such an important cause, is huge for us,” he said.

“One of the most impactful moments I ever had during the many years of doing this fundraiser, was when I was in fourth grade, we were featured on the local news and a family came on the second day of the stand . . . their daughter had pediatric cancer, and they were really emotional that young kids like us were raising money to fight pediatric cancer. Obviously, this is something their daughter was suffering from, and for them to come and support us was just very rewarding,” said Greenberg.

“The Pediatric Cancer Foundation’s (pcfcares.org) mission is to fund groundbreaking advancements in pediatric cancer treatment and research,” said Pamela Strauss Peligri, executive director for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation. “We identify institutions and physicians leading these advances and award grants to help fund their initiatives. Since our founding in 1970 we have distributed over $20M to research projects throughout the U.S. that have been instrumental in the fight against pediatric cancer.”

“The grants we award to the doctors and hospitals are funded 100 percent through donations from individuals, corporations, and family foundations,” added Peligri. “We receive no federal funding! PCF is so proud of the work of Evan Greenberg—over the last twenty years he and his brother Joshua have [raised over $95,000]. Their efforts have helped us touch countless families throughout the country as they deal with the terrible fight against childhood cancer.”

Starting a successful and long-lasting fundraiser can be difficult though, and it takes a lot of manpower to prepare for such an endeavor each year. Often planning months in advance, Greenberg, with the help of family and friends, must gather volunteers and reach out to sports teams and local vendors for raffle prizes. All of the products for the stand are donated each year, as is people’s time.

“One year, when we were still operating out of our garage, we had a power outage, trees were knocked down and disaster struck! Luckily, we had a gas stove though, we could still make the hot cocoa,” said Greenberg. He continued, “During COVID was also difficult . . . we just did the raffles and sold hot cocoa bombs on the website.”

Even through the difficult times though, Evan and Joshua’s Hot Cocoa Stand has persevered and stood the test of time. This year, the hot cocoa stand was even featured on CBS, PIX 11, and News 12 television stations in the New York City region. Creating and running the stand over the years was also a big reason why Greenberg decided to attend Cornell Law School in the first place.

“I’ve always wanted to become a lawyer, and realized over the past year that I’m more interested in public interest law, so my fundraising efforts have definitely affected my career interests,” said Greenberg. “I’ve always wanted to help people and going into a public interest law career is really full circle for me.”

When asked about the future of the hot cocoa stand, Greenberg said that he’s not sure where the stand will be five, ten, of fifteen years down the road, but for the foreseeable future, he and his brother are happy to continue to do it. “We want to reach $100,000 in total donations for PCF, so we will definitely bring the stand back next year!”

For those who weren’t able to make a donation this year to Evan and Joshua’s Hot Cocoa Stand, Greenberg says there is still time! To donate, please visit: EJHotCocoa.com.