National Lemonade Day set Saturday
GENTRY — Local kids will be getting a taste of entrepreneurship during National Lemonade Day this Saturday. Students from the Siloam Springs Boys and Girls Club, Siloam Springs High School, Gentry Middle School and local homeschool groups will be selling lemonade at six locations throughout Siloam Springs and at the Chicken Coop in Gentry.
A map of all the lemonade stands in Northwest Arkansas, including bubbles with the name of each stand and hours of operation, is available at nwa.lemonadeday.org.
This is the second year in a row that Northwest Arkansas groups have participated in National Lemonade Day, according to Sarah Heimer, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas, the local administrator of the program. This year more than 1,000 kids in the region will be participating in the event, she said.
National Lemonade Day was founded in 2007 as a way to empower youth to become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs by helping them start, own and operate their very own lemonade stand, according to the organization’s website, www.lemonadeday.org.
The organization developed a 14-step process that walks youth through the process from dream to business plan, while teaching them the same principles required to start a big company, the website states. Students get to keep their profits and are taught to spend, save and share by giving back to the community.
Three groups of 11- to 13-year-old students from the Boys and Girls Club will be setting up lemonade stands from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Walmart Neighborhood Market, Signature Plaza and Harps, according to Stephen Johnston, athletics director for the club.
This is also the second year that the Boys and Girls Club has been involved in Lemonade Day. Johnston said his students have been working for three or four weeks to prepare for the event. They have developed a business plan, asked for a loan for startup money, and done the math to figure out how many supplies they will need and how much they will need to charge to make a profit.
The curriculum teaches students to think of all aspects of running a business, including the smallest details, Johnston said. They also learn common business terminology, he said.
“The more successful they are at this, the more likely they are to be involved in business later in life,” he said. “It gets them excited about it early in life.”
Northwest Arkansas has historically been a hotbed of entrepreneurship, spawning leaders such as Sam Walton, J.B. Hunt, and Mark Simmons, Heimer said.
“This is the perfect breeding ground for kids to do a program like this,” she said. “It fits the culture really well.”
The materials for Lemonade Day were free of charge to those who participated due to sponsorship from the Walmart Museum. Sam Walton had a great passion for entrepreneurship, and the program is right in the spirit of who he was, Heimer said.
Heimer is encouraging people to get out on May 7 and, if they see a stand, stop and buy lemonade.
“Beyond that, ask the kids about their product,” she said. “There is likely a story behind it.”
Customers should also ask kids which philanthropy they plan to support with their earnings, she said.