On May 21, 2016, thousands of youth across West Virginia will participate in the state’s fourth annual Lemonade Day. This nationwide entrepreneurship project has been made possible for the past four years with funding from Vision Shared, an economic development organization whose mission is to strengthen the economy, transform communities, promote progressive government and improve the quality of life for West Virginians.
For weeks, thousands of youth across West Virginia have been working hard to complete a business plan in order to open their own business – a lemonade stand. As part of a national entrepreneurship and financial literacy program, children and teens at over thirty-five sites will be selling lemonade in the Mountain State.
Lemonade Day is a nationwide, educational initiative that teaches youth how to start, own and operate their own business – a lemonade stand. The goal of Lemonade Day is to empower youth to take ownership of their lives and become the business leaders, social advocates, volunteers, and forward thinking citizens of tomorrow. All that participate are taught valuable life lessons that include creating budgets, setting profit-making goals, serving customers, repaying investors and giving back to the community. Lemonade Day was founded in 2007 in Houston, Texas. Vision Shared, Inc. is the license holder for Lemonade Day in West Virginia.
“The excitement around Lemonade Day continues to ignite a sense of personal responsibility in students across West Virginia that will inspire them to be the state’s next generation of entrepreneurs”, said WV Lemonade Day Director Jennifer Wotring.
“This program is an excellent way to teach children entrepreneurship skills while at the same time having fun,” says Vision Shared President Cory Dennison. “Hopefully Lemonade Day will plant a seed for these kids, and one day they will open their own business in West Virginia.”
Each year, youth across the country take the lemons life hands them and make lemonade – literally. With an entrepreneurship curriculum that teaches them how to budget, network, and manage their business, these students apply these skills and participate in a national Lemonade Day. This program gives students from all socio-economic backgrounds the ability to start their own business and make money. Schools give back a portion of these earned funds to a chosen non-profit organization.
Vision Shared’s commitment to Lemonade Day has resulted in over 8,000 youth gaining entrepreneurship skills through their school, after-school organization or community-based initiative.
Please feel free to contact site coordinators for specifics about their Lemonade Day activities. Additional programs across the state will continue to set-up stands through July as part of this national movement. For more information on Lemonade Day in West Virginia, visit www.westvirginia.lemonadeday.org, “like” WV Lemonade Day on Facebook, follow us @LemonadeDayWV on Twitter or contact WV Lemonade Day Director, Jennifer Wotring, at wvdirector@lemonadeday.org or 304.296.9021 ex 14.
