FAIRHOPE – Young entrepreneurs on the Eastern Shore will have a chance to try their recipe for commercial success Nov. 6, when the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce holds its first Lemonade Day.
Registration is being taken through Sept. 10 for the event, Tully Cruthirds, chamber project manager, said.
Lemonade Day is a national event that has been going on for about 10 years and is now expanding to the Eastern Shore, she said.
“This is our first year doing it on the Eastern Shore,” Cruthirds said. “Our Lemonade Day will cover Daphne, Fairhope and Spanish Fort.”
She said Lemonade Day has been held in South Baldwin in the past and has been a big success. Cruthirds said interest has been strong on the Eastern Shore with more than 60 children signing up in the first few days that registration was open.
The project is intended to teach children how to plan and run a business.
“They have to build a stand, come up with their own recipe, Cruthirds said. “Technically, any money they borrow, if they borrow it from family, whoever, to build the stand, they are supposed to pay that back. That’s part of the profit and loss for the entire experience.”
The event is open to children in the third through sixth grade. Most participants take part in teams of two or three children. Adults can serve as mentors to help guide the young entrepreneurs.
“They complete a workbook that teaches them, profits and losses, pretty much how to start their own business,” she said.
The event is intended to foster mentorship and bring families together as well as teach children financial literacy and develop an interest in entrepreneurship, which is key to jumpstart economic growth. Lemonade Day is also set up to teach young people to be responsible and self-reliant and to contribute to their community’s development, according to a chamber statement.
Participants can register and get more information at the event website, lemonadeday.org/eastern-shore-alabama. Stand sites will also be listed on the website as the event date approaches, she said.
Sponsors, mentors, volunteers and others who want to help can also go to the website or call the chamber at 251-928-6387, she said.
Current sponsors of Lemonade Day Eastern Shore include Bayside Academy, Home 2 Suites, Kaiser Sotheby’s, Lad Drago State Farm, Titan Storage, Progress Bank, Southwood Kitchen, Thomas Hospital Pediatric, Alabama Land Title, Fairhope Living Magazine, Fantasy Island Toys, Foosackly’s, Giving Totes, HomeFront Lending, McAleer’s Office Furniture, Portside Advertising, ReaLand Title, Segers, Southern View Media, Synergy Home Health, Terry Thompson Chevrolet, The Hope Farm, Urgent Care for Children and others, according to a chamber statement.
