Young entrepreneurs are taking to the streets this Saturday to serve up some lemonade.
June 18, 2022 is Lemonade Day. The event is hosted by Community Futures – Yellowhead East. For the past few weeks, Community Futures has been teaching participating children everything they need to know to run a business. The kids then apply what they have learned by running a lemonade stand.
Michelle Jones, executive director for Community Futures – Yellowhead East, says their program is quite thorough.
“It really teaches kids a lot of life success skill in addition to entrepreneurial skills, such as establishing a budget, building a business plan, and seeking investors and partners,” shares Jones.
The kids are also taught three components about what to do with the money they earn: save some, spend some, and share some. For share some, it can take the form of giving it to family and friends, or donating it to a charity.
There is a lot of creativity involved. A contest is held to for the best tasting lemonade.
“They are expected to go out and find a lemonade recipe that they like and test it on family and friends before bringing it to be judged,” explains Jones.
Other contests being held as part of Lemonade Day include Best Stand, and Local Entrepreneur of the Year. For Entrepreneur of the Year, the kids are judged on customer service, and making sure they are following all the appropriate food handling guidelines.
Community Futures – Yellowhead East had 60 kids enroll this year, resulting in 25 lemonade stands. This Saturday, you can find lemonade stands in Whitecourt, Edson, Mayerthorpe, Fox Creek, Fort Assiniboine and Barrhead.
Jones asks that you keep your eyes open, and buy a glass of lemonade when you see a stand.
“A good majority of what you will find you can probably see at your major shopping centres and locations or downtown locations where there is a lot of traffic, or at some of the parks, knowing there is a lot of people who attend those as well,” says Jones.
The lemonade stands will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 18. You can find a map of where all the lemonade stands are located at www.lemonadeday.org/northern-alberta.