The lemonade stand is a part of Americana. It sits in good company along with baseball, apple pie, and the Fourth of July as something that is quintessentially part of our culture. And, it’s many a kid’s first business venture.
But, what if we took this lemonade stand tradition and kicked it up a notch? That’s what Lemonade Day will do on June 12th. It’s not only in Metro Detroit but across the country. This is an opportunity to teach kids from all socio-economic backgrounds the concept of “spend a little, save a little, and give a little.” Last year, across the country, more than $2 million dollars were raised for charities.
Lemonade Day started in Houston, Texas in 2007. Back then, the program started with 2,600 children. Now, it’s expected to have grown more than 57 times the size with more than 150,000 youth participating across the country. 15,000 of those will be here in Metro Detroit.
Luther Keith of ARISE Detroit! gets some lemonade
But this is about much more than a lemonade stand. There are lesson plans and resources for schools that match state teaching objectives and even backpacks with everything you need available for pickup. The backpacks include an age-appropriate, comprehensive entrepreneurial notebook and a “Caring Adult Guide.” Even better, if the kids mail the results form in before June 24, they’ll be eligible to win a trip to Walt Disney World trip, sponsored by Art Van!
Business and community partners are helping to get the word out that June 12th is the day for lemonade in Detroit. They’ll be the ones providing backpack pickup locations as well. You can pick up a free backpack for your kids upon registration from any one of 49 Huntington Bank locations, 18 Art Van furniture stores, as well as from community partners such as ARISE Detroit!, the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit, Matrix Human Services, the College for Creatives Studies, and others.
Each one of the cities has a website, but for those in Detroit, check out http://detroit.lemonadeday.org. Stay tuned for updates here and on our Twitter and Facebook. We’ll be following this story along with you.
