Lemonade Day is to teach youth how to start and run their own lemonade business
Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez,
McAllen, TX.- What a great idea this business of teaching children how to plan, open and manage a business. I had great time visiting the different lemonade stands on Sunday May 4, 2014 as more than 260 children entrepreneurs operated 50 stands of Lemonade around the City of McAllen to celebrate National Lemonade Day.
This effort by the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, the teams from different schools made a great success the National Lemonade Day that takes place the first Sunday in May.
The event was presented by the McAllen Chamber of Commerce and Clark Chevrolet and sponsored by HEB, IBC Bank, Sylvan Learning RGV, The Monitor, CopyPlus!, Watermill Express and RGV Promos. Texas Border Business also participated by promoting the event heavily on Texas Border Business newspaper, web and social media.
According to a press release from the McAllen Chamber of commerce the objective of Lemonade Day is to teach youth how to start and run their own lemonade business.
Through this simple business exercise, children learned the entrepreneurial skills necessary to be successful in the future and become contributing members of their communities. Eduardo Millet, Vice President of Business Development and Governmental Affairs at the McAllen Chamber of Commerce told Texas Border Business, “The best part of the program for kids is that after covering their expenses and paying back their investors, they can keep what they earn. With this in mind, children were encouraged to open a youth savings account so their profits can continue to grow as well as give a portion of their earnings to a charity.”
Student participants Victoria Gonzalez, Sydnee Baldree, Front Row: Gonzalez Elementary Student participants Kayla Johnson, Laura Turk
Each participant of Lemonade day received a yellow backpack containing an entrepreneurial workbook for the child and a caring adult guide. The workbooks outlined the steps needed to start a business, from setting a goal, creating a business plan, forming a budget, finding an investor, to saving money and donating a portion back to their community.
The program consist of the following 14 steps: setting goals; planning; budgeting; finding an investor; site selection; advertising; building a stand; purchasing; making healthy lemonade; setting up; running your business; business results & accounting; saving and sharing; and reflections and future plans.
Michael Holthouse, a Houston entrepreneur and philanthropist, co-founded Prepared 4 Life (P4L), a nonprofit that provides fun, proactive and experiential programs infused with life skill, character education and entrepreneurship. Inspired by the lessons he was able to teach his young daughter and her friend when they set up a lemonade stand.
Holthouse launched Lemonade Day in Houston, Texas in 2007 as a community-wide, educational initiative, which has now become P4L’s number one outreach and educational priority.
Photos courtesy McAllen chamber of Commerce:
