photo courtesy of Chantelle Adams
We have chosen this summer to be a “Summer of Service.” I know summer is coming to an end for many of you, but there is still time to make some lemonade for a good cause! Here is what our kids have done with a little lemonade and some magic:
Teagan, age 9, and Tate, age 7 kicked off the summer using creative ideas to build a school in Africa. I gave them each $2.00 and told them to turn it into more with their own unique ideas.
Tate came up with the idea of doing a Magic Show. He made up invitations with the details and asked for a $2.00 donation that included a bag of popcorn and a glass of pop.
Tate practiced his tricks until he had them mastered. He had a 30 minute show prepared for his audience. About 20 friends and their parents showed up for the show and all were so impressed with Tate’s ability to stand up and perform. Tate is normally very quiet and shy, but he was ready to step out of his comfort zone for the kids in Africa. The applause filled the air as Tate amazed his friends. At the close of the evening, Tate had raised $85.00 for Africa!
After some thought, Teagan decided to hold a lemonade stand, but with a twist. He went through all of our toy boxes and found cool, gently used toys that would make a great prize for any kid. He charged a bit higher fee, $1.00 instead of the usual $0.25, for his premium lemonade, but with each purchase he included a free toy–a great marketing strategy.
Teagan got permission from the principal at his elementary school to set up his lemonade stand at recess on the last day of school. In less than an hour, Teagan had raised $86.00!!! We were amazed. The kids loved the free toy idea and were thrilled to support a great cause, too. Many students asked to help with the stand and offered their assistance when the lines grew! It was great to see how eager kids were to get involved.
The boys have set up the lemonade stand at community events, too, and in just one month have now raised over $1000.00! They even had their story reported in the local newspaper. Here is a link if you want to check it out.
Their goal is $9000.00 because that is what it takes to build a school with Free the Children. I know that through their passion, enthusiasm, creative ideas, and of course the amazing support of friends, family and a generous community, they will be able to reach this goal!
Let your children take the lead and decide who they want to help and where they want the money raised to go. A great idea would be to donate to the Red Cross for famine relief. You could choose to donate to your local food bank or animal shelter, or use the money to buy some toys or games for a women’s shelter. You could use the money to help a neighbor who has lost his job. The possibilities are almost endless!
This is inspiring! I am sure you are so proud of your kids.
It is amazing to see them get excited to do something completely 100% for someone else!!! It has also been so great doing things together… it has given us a lot of fun projects to do together as a family and all while making a difference, it has been the greatest way to spend part of our sunny summer days!
This is so wonderful! Just last night my children wanted to make a lemonade stand and have a yard sale of the things they don’t use anymore. Having a service minded focus just might make their idea even better and more fun! I will share this with them too.
I love how you can read something and it just clicks at just the right moment!!! How fun, we have really enjoyed doing our lemonade stands and it has been a great time to connect. Also having a yard sale is a win-win because you get rid of some extra clutter in the house and the kids love having a ‘store’ it provides so many great learning opportunities, especially when you combine these things with making a difference!!!! I would love to hear how it goes!!!! 🙂