A nine-year-old boy in Springfield, Missouri is selling lemonade to raise money to fund his own adoption.

According to KTLA, Tristan Jacobson was only five when he was abandoned by his mother and dropped off at a Missouri shelter. Donnie Davis and her husband Jimmy have been Tristan’s kinship guardians since he was five, and now they are trying to make things official and adopt him.

“In mine and my husband’s hearts, that’s our son. Nobody can tell us any different. That is our son. He wants to be legally ours,” said Donnie.

Despite not having the associated $10,000 in legal fees to cover costs, the Davis family did not waver in their quest for Tristan to officially become their son. Tristan decided to help out and create a lemonade stand, which attracted many visitors.

As of Tuesday morning, through a YouCaring crowdfunding page, the family has raised almost $18,000 for Tristan’s adoption. At least $7,100 of this money has come from the lemonade stand and a yard sale.

“I know she’s responsible, taking care of me,” he said of Davis. “I know she’s going to be a great mother,” said Tristan.

Here’s to Tristan’s great future with the Smith family.

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Tristan Jacobson

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