McKenna woke up Friday morning (a couple of weeks ago by the time I’m getting around to posting this) with a hankering to have a Lemonade Stand on Saturday at our little town’s Strawberry Festival.
It was kind of short notice, though. Less than 24 hours away. I tried to think of a good reason why we couldn’t do it…because I knew who would end up doing most of the work. I asked what she wanted to do with the money and she said she wanted to donate it to our local Christian Help Center like the Kindergartners at her school who were holding a lemonade stand on the playground each day at recess for the same charity.
How could I say no, now? We set out to procure all the necessary supplies when I picked her up from school that afternoon.
We made the little sign below with my Cricut and I posted a quick plea advertisement on Facebook for support that night.
I borrowed all the pitchers that Mom and Sister had on hand and we set out early on Saturday morning to set up before the parade.
I bought a few real lemons for decoration on the little table. Several people asked if the lemonade was homemade…well it was made at home…and then we fessed up that it was actually Country Time Lemonade. We also offered a sugar-free version (which was Crystal Light). Nobody seemed to mind and the Sugar free option was more popular than the regular.
The girls had fun at our little stand. Our cash drawer was a wipes box covered in wrapping paper to coordinate with our pink and yellow color scheme.
The girls took a little break during the parade to catch candy.
When all was said and done, we raised $46 (and that was after several people bought very over-priced cups of lemonade). I took the girls to the Christian Help Center to drop off the donation the following Friday.
Do you see all those empty shelves? The last time I was there all the shelves were full. So I guess they need every $46 they can get. The girls had their picture made with the Director and everyone thanked the girls over and over.
As we walked back to the car, McKenna said, “Now I feel kind of weird…but a good kind of weird.”
Although our little lemonade stand didn’t raise a lot of money, I hope it taught my little girls about the importance of helping other people and how gratifying that can be. It certainly refreshed my own memory on the subject. And that lesson is priceless.
UPDATE: This post is a little outside of my normal realm of DIY projects but I am so delighted to be featured at Tatertots and Jello! We are never too young or old to help other people and maybe our little lemonade stand will inspire other little lemonades stands everywhere! You never know how large of an impact a small gesture can make!
Good for the girls, wanting to give back. It's awesome that they have a mom who encourages it; it's never too early to learn to be a caring citizen of this world.
The girls are adorable!
Thank you! 🙂
Good for the girls, wanting to give back. It's awesome that they have a mom who encourages it; it's never too early to learn to be a caring citizen of this world.