Puyallup teens raise money with fireworks sales

A group of teenagers is running the entire operation at a firework stand at Puyallup’s Meridian Town Center.

Organizer Chase Cummings said it was about five years ago when the youth group was trying to come up with ideas to fundraise so that they could pay for camps. Their plan was a fireworks tent.

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“The previous owner gave us this location that wasn’t doing really well and they said, ‘We’ll see how you guys do with it and if you do good, it’s yours,'” Cummings explained. “And we did really well that year.”

He said they weren’t able to sell fireworks last year because of Covid related lockdowns, but they’re seeing record-breaking sales this year.

As for wildfire dangers, Cummings said he understands that there are concerns.

“As long as people are doing the correct procedures such as lighting off in locations where you aren’t going to hit anything such as trees and brush and dumping water on your used fireworks to make sure they’re not going to catch fire, then I think we should totally keep fireworks legal, because why not celebrate our freedom?,” Cummings said.

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Cummings and the youth group from Experiencechurch.tv is located off Meridian, behind the Pepboys and KFC in Puyallup’s South Hill neighborhood. You really can’t miss the signs.

Cummings said they plan to host a 5th of July celebration starting at 6 p.m. and then a fireworks show when it gets dark. They’ll also have a dinner and authentic Hawaiian shaved ice. Cummings invites everyone to come out and enjoy!

KIRO Radio’s Katharine Federer contributed to this report.