HOUSTON, Texas (June 18, 2020) — Lemonade Day®, a national youth entrepreneurship program that has engaged more than 1 million kids in the experience of starting their own small lemonade business, is launching the “Lemonade Day My Way” promotion. On National Lemonade Day, Aug. 20, and through Aug. 23, Lemonade Day leaders throughout North America are encouraging kids to host a lemonade stand their way – either virtually or in person — while practicing social distancing and adhering to other health and safety guidelines outlined by individual communities and the U.S. Center for Disease Control. Lemonade Day My Way participants are eligible to enter contests to win new bicycles and prizes for starting a future business.
Kids can register to participate in Lemonade Day My Way for free by visiting https://lemonadeday.org/find-your-city. If you are not in a Lemonade Day city, you can participate through our Raising Cane’s partnership by visiting https://lemonadeday.org/raising-canes. Kids can access the Lemonopolis online lesson program from any device anytime from anywhere. Lemonade Day provides young people with the ability to learn skills pertinent to building their entrepreneurial mindset along with social and emotional skills allowing them to channel their creativity to overcome adversity to start their dream business. The Lemonopolis curriculum aligns with core educational standards and is centered on the Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets® framework, which provides positive support and strengths that young people need to succeed.
Lemonade Day in Pandemic Times
Setting up a lemonade stand is often considered a “rite of passage” from childhood to adulthood. Hot summer days and nights have incentivized both kids and adults to apply their entrepreneurial aspirations as lemonade stand owners and operators as far back as the 1870s. One of the first documented lemonade stands was operated by a 10-year-old boy named Edward Box who began selling ice water for a penny to riders in horse-drawn carriages at watering troughs in New York City. When other kids started competing with him, he sold lemonade instead of ice water and increased his price to three cents. (Source: TheClassroom.com)
“Introducing the Lemonade Day My Way promotion enables Lemonade Day supporters to offer kids creative, fun and safe ways to host a physical lemonade stand or a virtual one to earn their own money. Our Lemonade Day national team in Houston has developed the Lemonade Day My Way promotion to demonstrate that challenges can produce opportunities for innovation, change and growth,” commented Steven Gordon, Lemonade Day national president.
Gordon added: “Quarantines, social distancing, remote working, and home-schooling have necessitated a rapid transition to new and different ways of life for all of us. These and other realities of the novel coronavirus pandemic are especially tough on kids and teens. They may not be able to interact much or at all in person with their friends and they may not be able to participate in their normal summer activities. Unfortunately, many kids this year may also be adversely affected by economic hardships. Lemonade Day My Way provides step-by-step guidelines for enabling them to launch a profitable lemonade business.”
In past years, Lemonade Day events have been held throughout the U.S., Canada and other countries from late April through early August. Kids, youth groups, family and friends typically set up lemonade stands in parks, neighborhoods, retail centers, farmers’ markets, places of worship and other venues to make money for themselves or a special cause. However, because of stay-at-home orders and other health and safety regulations necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, most scheduled Lemonade Day events have been postponed this year.
About Lemonade Day My Way
Here are three examples of virtual lemonade stand options:
1. The Simple Way – kids can invite supporters to buy lemonade from their own website.
a. Virtual stand where participants market their lemonade and stand and in return for purchase,
provide their special recipe or product to customers. b. Digital payment (PayPal, Venmo, etc.) using a parent’s account. 2. The High-Tech Way
a. Create an online e-commerce store (Shopify, Sharetribe, etc.) to sell their lemonade recipe or other
product. Upon purchase from the e-commerce store, customers would receive the lemonade recipe or product. 3. The Social Way
a. Virtual stand where participants market their lemonade and stand through social media and in
return for purchase, provide their special recipe or product to customers. b. Digital payment (PayPal, Venmo, etc.) using a parent’s account.
Here are three examples for hosting an in person lemonade stand :
1. The Community Way
a. Hosted on private property or a safe public location with the owner’s approval. b. Follow health and safety guidelines (i.e. masks, gloves, hand sanitizer/cleaning products, contactless
delivery via tray, utilize lids for cups and wrapped straws, etc.) 2. The Drive-Thru Way
a. Same as above with convenience to customers as they remain in their vehicle. 3. Lemonade To Go “The To Go Way”
a. Pre-packaged take home lemonade kits with individually wrapped items such as water bottles,
lemonade packets and other ingredients all prepared in a sanitary way. b. Sold at an in-person stand, door to door or via drive-thru.
Media-friendly assets are available here: https://lemonadeday.box.com/s/7kqtpy29hf6pdrhhfaflk11oh6qhdbij.
About Lemonade Day
Lemonade Day, which was founded in 2007, has expanded to more than 84 communities in the United States, Canada, Bermuda and South Africa. The program teaches ignites the spark of entrepreneurship and equips kids of pre-school through middle school age with powerful business and character-building skills that serve them for life. Kids can
register for free access to an online lesson plan that teaches them goal setting, business planning, risk assessment, product development, marketing, customer service, financial management and charitable giving. (Visit www.lemonadeday.org, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more information and updates.)
