Do You Stop at Kids’ Lemonade Stands?

Reasons ranging from boredom to raising funds for charity will inspire kids to put together a summer lemonade stand. Does the reason make a difference in your decision to stop, or do you stop no matter what? Or do you never participate?

We moved last summer, prior to that, we were on this weird little corner where we never got any trick-or-treaters, lemonade stands, or anything fun, really, it was a very quiet, private corner. Our new place is the opposite. Nonstop action, kids playing in the road, neighbors stopping by, it's busy over here. We always make a point to support our local lemonade stands, no matter how busy we are, or how cloudy and warm the drinks are.

We've got a couple of kids who are real entrepreneurs, they are always working on a new, bigger, better sign and sometimes they even paint the word "LEMONADE" on their chests. Another kid just outside our 'hood has a simple cardboard box and mostly just stares at her phone when we drive by. So there's definitely a range of effort, but they're still out doing something, so we play their game.

And then you've got the kids who are trying to raise money for a special trip, and others who are trying to earn their own Roblox gift cards. During super quarantine time of the pandemic last year, there was a young lady just off Russell selling packages of toilet paper to raise money for the Poverello Center, which I thought was brilliant. Some friends in Lolo have been raving about these kids who have a super bougie lemonade stand with different syrups and little umbrellas and everything.

It's always great to see kids out doing anything besides staring at their phones or sleeping on the couch, so be sure to stop and support these local go-getters. Even if they're just raising funds to buy gaming cards to go back inside and stare at their screens.