NATCHEZ — After 10 years of turning lemons into thousands of dollars of donations for the local animal shelter, the Mae and Friends Lemonade Stand will not be coming back to this year’s Natchez Food & Wine Festival.

“We will not be having a stand this year,” Ginna Holyoak said about the fundraiser she and her daughter Mae started in 2008. “We are going to shift gears a little bit.”

Ginna said her daughter Mae is turning 16 and her life and the lives of her friends have gotten busier.

“The older they got, the harder it was to pull (the lemonade stand) together,” Ginna said. “Mae said, ‘I am about to start driving, I don’t want to sell lemonade.’”

In 10 years, the lemonade stand has raised more than $70,000 for the Natchez-Adams County Humane Society. In the first years, the stand brought in $300 with two jugs of lemonade. Last year, Mae and Friends collected more than $15,000 in donations that not only included lemonade sales, but also the sale of other types of food, crafts and sponsorships.

Even though the stand will not be open this year, Ginna said her daughter still wants to be involved in the community.

“We are going to still help the animals,’ Ginna said. “We are considering how we might do that.”

The Holyoaks want to keep the name “Mae and Friends” for future community service efforts.

A supporter of Mississippi Spay and Neuter, Ginna said she wants to shift the focus of Mae and Friends to helping control the pet population in the county.

“Ultimately the more animals we fix, the less animals that go to the shelter,” Ginna said. “It is a win-win. The shelter will benefit from this, although not from fundraising.”

Whichever direction Mae and Friends decides to go, Ginna says she and her family are committed to helping NACHS and the local animal shelter.

“It was the right time to exit and shift gears,” she said.

Holyoak said those who want to help the shelter with a tax-deductible donation, can go to NACHS.org to make recurring or one-time donations or mail a donation to NACHS, P.O. Box 549, Natchez, MS 39120.

She also said those wanting to help reduce the pet overpopulation in Natchez can make a tax-deductible donation to MS SPAN, 100 Business Center Parkway, Suite B, Pearl, MS  39208.  Checks should have “Natchez Fund” in the Memo section.  Donations can also be made online at msspan.org.

Since 2011, the “Natchez Fund” has helped over 2000 animals in the Natchez area to be spayed or neutered, Ginna said.