LAS VEGAS -- Firework stands are now open for business. Aside from the fun they provide on the Fourth of July, for a lot of non-profits in southern Nevada this is a major fundraising effort.
The money goes a long way for groups like the Explorer Program, hoping to get people to stop by and make a buy. From new uniforms to conferences, groups combat triple digit heat to man firework stands all across southern Nevada.
"This is a huge opportunity for us, because you talk about. If we made $5,000 in just a weeks worth of time of fundraising, that's a huge amount of money to small non-profit. It's not just a drop in the bucket, it's significant," said Chrissie Coon with Fireworks for Myotubular Myopathy.
Coon, along with her family and friends, are manning a stand at the Costco shopping center at I-215 and north Decatur Boulevard. Money raised from sales go to the Myotubular Myopathy Resource Group, a non-profit organization committed to improving the lives of families affected by the rare muscle disorder.
These next few days of fundraising hold extra meaning for her -- she lost her son Joseph to the disease before his second birthday.
But the causes vary. Across town at Windmill Lane and Bermuda Road, the Canyon Springs High School basketball team is hoping to make a slam dunk with sales at their firework stand.
"We get new balls, new uniforms, new traveling uniforms. We haven't really got team shoes, we are trying to get that now," said player James Jones.
Jones is captain of the team, and doesn't mind spending a few days from summer break inside a fireworks stand to raise money that helps them with equipment and traveling expenses.
By state law, any group operating a fireworks stand must be a non-profit.
