Lemonade Day lets kids learn business basics, savor fruits of their labor

Mid-May gets warm in these parts. With the drought, folks are likely to be mighty parched, probably looking for a long, cool drink of lemonade.

Fortunately, a fresh crop of up-and-coming entrepreneurs will be at your service, ready to quench that thirst. May 16 is Lemonade Day.

The goal is to have at least 1,500 Modesto youths participate this year, said organizer Lynda Jost. Jost works with the Modesto Chamber of Commerce, which will lead the effort this year, Modesto’s third Lemonade Day. David Darmstandler is the business partner, called City Champion. Modesto is the first in the nation, Jost said, to also have a Youth City Champion.

The team is holding a registration and backpack pickup event at Vintage Faire Mall on Saturday. Backpacks with an Entrepreneur Workbook are given free to Lemonade Day’s young retailers, who get an education in setting up and running a business as part of the deal.

“It’s free, and such a great education,” said Kristi Engel, mother of one of the aspiring retailers. “It has an impact on these young people to have business people and leaders work with them.”

Stand owners also have to get investors and, just as important, have to pay them back before tallying up their profits.

“It’s a tremendous lesson. They have to learn to take that first profit and put it into the business,” Darmstandler said.

“It’s an integral part of business,” Jost agreed. “They have to spend some, save some for their future, and share some.” Kids pick their causes, because the point is to make helping others a part of the profit equation.

Organizers hope a similar spirit of community will spur more grown-ups to pitch in. Businesses sign up to mentor the young business owners or provide space for a stand.

Planning, preparing and running a simple stand provides practical skills and financial savvy, Darmstandler said, “It creates initiative. It makes that light bulb go on.”

Specifically, it teaches about capital, supply and demand, credit, debt and compound interest, and the difference between gross and net income.

Among the lessons she saw kids learning, Engel said, were handling rejection when adults asked for donations said no, the marketing power of Facebook in driving customers to a stand, and the notion that hard work brings rewards.

The good old days of just setting up a table in the front yard are gone, Jost said. “We could do that. We didn’t have to fear our neighbors or get a health permit for a lemonade stand,” she said.

Arrangements with the health department are part of the Lemonade Day package, made possible by the city of Modesto giving its official okie-dokie in the form of a Lemonade Day resolution, Jost said. Help past the red tape is part of the community effort to get the tiny, temporary retail sites in business.

During their day of operation, organizers hope customers will bring more than small bills and a hearty thirst.

“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. “They should be able to tell you.”

This story was originally published April 7, 2015 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Lemonade Day lets kids learn business basics, savor fruits of their labor."