Volunteers at the Shaw’s Supermarket of Windham have the sweet taste of success in their mouths after smashing their goal of raising $200 for childhood cancer research by June 14.

After bringing in more than $1,250 in donations over two days of running an Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation fundraiser outside of the 43 Indian Rock Road store, volunteer and organizer Deb Mercer said the success of the event had left her with butterflies in her stomach.

“My stomach is flip-flopping, I’m so excited,” said Mercer, who works as a grocery clerk at the supermarket on most days. “Who would have thought (the response would be this good)?”

Mercer took a lead role in organizing the weekend-long event after her district manager challenged the employees in area Shaws’ locations to raise as much money as possible for the childhood cancer research foundation. Associates at her supermarket volunteered their time, energy and efforts into making sure the fundraiser went off successfully, she said. While some of Mercer’s co-workers joined her in handing out lemonade to passing customers, others gave in whatever way they could, from donating goods for a raffle to putting together the lemonade stand from scratch.

Having spent a few hours the week leading up to the event with co-worker Gaylon Spinney building the lemonade stand, Rolando Mendez, grocery manager for the supermarket, said he wanted to make the stand look rustic and as much as possible like the original, operated by Alexandra “Alex” Scott in 2000 for the sole purpose of raising money for cancer research.

The then 4-year-old had been suffering from neuroblastoma since her first birthday, and before she passed away in 2004, Scott and volunteers across the country had raised more than $1 million for childhood cancer research.

Mercer said telling the story of Scott’s efforts to find a cure for cancer to customers had been critical in making the event a success.

“We’ve been greeting people and we’re informing them of the original lemonade stand,” Mercer said. “Their hearts melt (when they learn more) and in goes the whole $20 bill.”

A spokesman for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, Gillian Kocher said more than anything else, word of mouth about events like the Shaw’s fundraiser helped the organization both by raising money and by encouraging other individuals to volunteer their time and efforts.

As for Mercer, though this may have been her first organized charity fundraiser, she is already looking forward to bringing out the lemonade stand again next year.

“I’m so excited,” she said. “I’m not one for words, but yeah, this is totally cool.”