Give us a little history of Lemonade Day.
Celebrating 10 sweet years, Lemonade Day originated out of Houston, Texas. What started with one young lady, inspired to make money to acquire a pet turtle, has now turned into a program that has over 30,000 participants in Houston alone! Now, over 60 cities, 23 states, and three countries have the Lemonade Day program, with hundreds of thousands of young participants who are our future leaders and entrepreneurs. National Lemonade Day is held in May, however we know that isn’t quite a guarantee in North Dakota, so ours will be on June 17, 2017.
How is Lemonade day different from other events like it?
Lemonade Day is a program-based learning experience that pairs youth with a responsible mentor and guides them through the process of starting and operating their very first official business—a lemonade stand. With the help of a lesson-planned workbook, participants set a goal, make a plan, work the plan, and achieve their dreams! After they have followed through and set up shop on Lemonade Day, each youth walks away from the program more business savvy than some adults.
Who benefits from Lemonade Day?
The Community. This program is empowering today’s youth to become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. We have entrepreneur programs in high school and college, but those students take the skills they learn and sometimes leave “home,” and we never get to see the great things they do. If we can introduce this program to third through eighth graders, we will have a better chance to witness these great things earlier, and most important in our community!
How can people donate or get involved?
I guarantee anyone reading this has a child, or knows someone who has a child in the third to eighth grade range who would benefit from this program. Be a mentor! The greatest investment in this program is the time the mentors put in with the youth to assist, not ensure, but assist in their success. We don’t want the adults to do the work, or else the child won’t truly learn how to be successful through the work of someone else.
If you own or operate a business in Bismarck or Mandan, consider being a Safe Stand Location for a Lemonade Day participant. This partnership helps both the lemonade stand as well as the business as on June 17 a lot of people will be buying lemonade!
How can people contact you about Lemonade Day?
Feel free to contact me, Dave Leingang, at the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce, 701-223-5660, or email me at dleingang@bismancc.com. Check out the website, bismarckmandan.lemonadeday.org and give us a “LIKE” and share our Facebook page.