PHOENIX — He’s one of the more popular people in Valley sports history, and it’s all because he sells, "Lemonade! Lemonade! Like Grandma Made!”
Derrick Moore has been a main fixture at Valley sporting events and concerts for 35 years.
The beloved lemonade vendor won the 2015 Top Vendor award in Major League Baseball and even caught the eye of Taylor Swift.
I got a chance to catch up with Derrick in mid-march, just a few days after his vendor job shutdown due to COVID-19.
“It (money) is just tight,” Moore said. “I can’t play my medical insurances. So hopefully they’ll hold that for me.”
For the past 11 months, Moore has tried to find work. From installing cabinets, to being a caregiver, but recently his health took a bad turn.
Moore has fallen seriously ill, and since he doesn’t have health insurance, finding the treatment or a diagnosis is tough.
“He’s not the Derrick we all know and love right now,” said Moore’s Godson Tyrone Preyer Jr., a football coach at Trevor Browne High School. Derrick and Tyrone go way back.
“Derrick has been a father figure for me my entire life. He taught me how to drive, to work, helped me save money, buy my first car and get me my first job (selling lemonade). He’s always been at every baby shower for my kids”
So Tyrone started a GoFundMe page, hoping to provide some help. As of writing, they have raised over $115,000.
“I’ve gotten so many stories. Like, ;Hey I remember Derrick when I was a kid and now I’m 40.' It just shows, a little bit can go along way.”
For many, seeing Moore at a ballgame or concert over the years is even more memorable than the actual event. It has never matted where he’s selling lemonade, the only thing that mattered to him, is that you were there.
"Just interacting with the people, and seeing them laugh,” Moore said before D-backs opening day in late July. I miss it a lot. I miss the crowds and the people.”