VISTA, Calif. — There's no better way to kick off the holiday season than with a steaming cup of hot cocoa. But in the spirit of giving, 5-year-old Katelynn Hardee and her mom Karina are not making hot cocoa for themselves. Instead, their stand has a much bigger mission.

Two weeks ago, Katelynn overheard a conversation at her school, Breeze Hill Elementary, surrounding a parent who was having difficulty paying off a lunch balance.

“She started asking me some questions about it, and I tried to explain to her that some people aren’t as fortunate as us," Karina said.

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Katelynn wanted to help. She and her mom set up a hot cocoa and cookie stand in front of their house. Within the afternoon, they had raised enough to pay off more than 100 negative lunch balances on her campus.

From there, her community got wind of her efforts, and the school decided to help out by scheduling another, much larger, cocoa stand.

“This is a great example of one small act rippling into our community and so many others are now happening," Karina said.

Karina set up a Fundly account for Kiki's Kindness Project to go along with their physical stand. Together, they raised $8383.36 — enough to pay off the entire Vista School District's negative lunch balances.

They're not stopping there.

Karina and Katelynn have continued to raise money, this time to donate to school programs throughout the community that have been affected by budget cuts.

“It’s amazing to have your 5-year-old rally your school, community," Karina said. "We’ve had communication from all around the world excited for what Katelynn has done.”

It all started as a simple concept — just a hot cocoa stand and a 5-year-old — but a concept that has warmed the hearts of an entire community.