Sunday May 6.
It's that time of year again in the Bayou City, tens of thousands of local school kids on Sunday will earn a living the old fashioned way.
Started here in Houston back in 2007 as a way to teach children how to start, own and operate their own business, organizer Julie Eberle says Lemonade Day has grown by leaps and bounds ever since.
"Twenty-six hundred kids year one just in Houston, to over 200,000 kids in 40 cities," says the executive director of Prepared 4 Life. "We're excited to ad Chicago and New York to the list this year."
Their goal is to reach 100 cities by this time next year. Eberle says Lemonade Day continues to capture the attention of city and business leaders across the nation.
"They are shouting forward 'bring it to my city' whatever they can do to make people notice that Lemonade Day takes a model that is easy to understand and puts in the hands of kids and is impacting them for the future," she says.
Local student Mari Oliver has come up with a basil lemonade using the natural sweetener stevia -- she earned 3rd place for healthiest lemonade this year.
"I'm saving up for my college fund," says Oliver. "I'm also saving to help other kids learn about entrepreneurship and how to grow their business."
Local businesses sponsor each lemonade stand -- such as Pappas restaurants, where Pappadeux manager Brittany Le says they've been selling lemonade for charity all week.
"A portion of the proceeds will benefit a community program designed to teach youth about entrepreneurship," says Le.
The kids themselves also are encouraged to open a youth savings account and donate to a local charity of their choice as well.
