Grab a lemonade on May 16 and help teach a child

Grab a refreshing drink on Saturday and help encourage the entrepreneurs of the future.

Lemonade Day returns to Modesto for the third time on Saturday, May 16 when old-fashioned lemonade stands will pop up all over town so children can peddle their sweet, citrusy drinks while they learn the lessons of business.

The event is a communitywide educational program designed to teach youths how to start, own and operate their own businesses through lemonade stands, giving them skills through real-life experience.

Lemonade Day is a nationwide program started in Houston in 2007 by a nonprofit organization. The program now involves more than 100 cities and 200,000 kids across the country, according to national event website

Organizers provide registered children with all the basics on how to become entrepreneurs – from creating a business plan to finding investors, to building their lemonade stands to marketing and selling their products. Stand owners have to pay back their investors before tallying up their profits.

The children also donate part of their profits back by picking a cause of their choice, because part of the day’s goal is to fold helping others into the profit equation.

Some of the stands can be located on the national Lemonade Day website at http://modesto.lemonadeday.org/stand-locations-3.

The goal is to have at least 1,500 Modesto youths participate, organizer Lynda Jost told The Bee last month. Jost works with the Modesto Chamber of Commerce, which leads the effort this year. In the past, United Cerebral Palsy of Modesto guided the event.

During the event, organizers hope customers will do more than just buy a summery drink.

“Stop and ask that young person, ‘How much did it cost to make that glass of lemonade?’ ‘How did you come up with your recipe?’ ” Jost said in April. “They should be able to tell you.”

This story was originally published May 13, 2015 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Grab a lemonade on May 16 and help teach a child."