When tragedy on the scale unfolding in Louisiana and Mississippi occurs, we feel helpless. We're so far from the scene and it seems there's little we can do.

But we can do more than we think. One thing we can do in response to off-the-chart disasters is use them as teaching moments.

That is what several families are doing by setting up lemonade stands to raise money for hurricane victims.

Among them is Brenda Schloss, whose kids -- Chelsea, 8, Dylan, 7, and Allison, 4 -- will sell lemonade Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Quail Hollow Drive at Indian Trail. The proceeds will go to the American Red Cross.

"We live in a pretty prosperous area of town in North Raleigh," said Schloss, a 40-year-old real estate appraiser. "... I just want my kids to understand that you cannot have everything you want, and there are people who are a lot worse off than you."

It's an uphill battle.

I've tried to teach my kids, 6 and 3, that some families do not have enough to eat. My oldest old once responded: "Why don't they just go to McDonald's?"

Schloss has special reason to feel empathy for hurricane victims: Her college roommate lives in Waveland, Mississippi, a coastal community hit hard by the storm. Her ex-roommate and family -- she also has three children -- were not harmed physically by the storm. But she did lose their home, and possibly her job, too; The school where she teaches may have sustained major damage.

Another lemonade stand for the Red Cross will be at the Traemoor Manor subdivision off of Strickland Road. It will be from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Just follow the signs at the subdivision's entrance.

Sheila Prince said her kids, Blake, 3, and Thomas, 5, were surprised by how much money they could make from a lemonade stand when they put one up recently. So her kids and others from Traemoor decided to to it again for a good cause.

"We're not only raising money, but we're teaching them a lesson at the same time," said Prince, 36, a stay-at-home mom.

Drink some lemonade this weekend and help teach a kid.