Online registration is underway for Albuquerque area students in kindergarten through eighth grade interested in participating in the second annual Lemonade Day on May 7, a Saturday, in Albuquerque.
Lemonade Day is a complimentary communitywide program that is part of a national initiative to teach young people how to start, own, and operate their own business through the simple and time-honored act of building and running a lemonade stand, organizers said in a news release.
Students will set up stands at various sites around Albuquerque, including Balloon Fiesta Park and Nusenda Credit Union locations, and compete to attract the interest of customers with their unique recipes and business operations.
The nonprofit Rio Grande Educational Collaborative – dedicated to providing resources and opportunities to support social and academic dreams of children, their families, and communities – has partnered with local businesses to host the local version of the event.
Founded in 2007 in Houston, Lemonade Day is a national program that has expanded to more than 40 cities and has had more than 200,000 children in the United States participate in its programming.
“The Rio Grande Educational Collaborative is proud to host this phenomenal program in our state and local community for the second year,” said Peter Sanchez, CEO of the Atrisco Companies and RGEC, in a statement. “The seed of business ownership will be planted in hundreds of children as a result of this year’s Lemonade Day program.”
Registered students, in addition to participating, receive a mentor guide and entrepreneurial workbook to assist them in jump-starting their lemonade business, organizers said. The workbooks were created in partnerships with Junior Achievement and Search Institute. They outline how to set business goals, create a budget, find an investor, choose a site location, create an advertising plan, build a lemonade stand, learn banking skills, and analyze the business results through 14 lessons.
RGEC also said it plans to incorporate Lemonade Day into its after-school program at certain Albuquerque and Belen schools.
Students can register online at https://albuquerque.lemonadeday.org.
Students in grades between kindergarten and eighth grade are eligible to participate. Lemonade Day curriculum is taught within RGEC’s after-school programs, but interested parents also can obtain workbooks from RGEC to independently direct their child as well.
Sponsoring local businesses include Nusenda Credit Union, New Mexico Mutual, Dion’s, Wells Fargo, the City of Albuquerque and First Convenience Bank. For more information about the Rio Grande Educational Collaborative, please visit www.rgec.org.
Lemonade Day Encourages Entrepreneurship
Among Albuquerque Youth
