What does a hot day always call for? A nice, cold cup of lemonade.
Second graders from Charles Helmers Elementary School organized a lemonade stand for two good causes: cooling down the residents of the Santa Clarita Valley, and raising funds to donate to the SCV Food Pantry.
Selling lemonade, cookies, cupcakes and snacks for $1 each, the total amount raised was $218. The Food Pantry also benefited from other items collected during the stand.
One of the moms, Carolyn Veis, discussed the process of the parents coming together for the good of the community.
“Some of us brought cookies, cupcakes and lemonade; there was also sweet tea that was for sale,” Veis said.
Adriana Rojales, a coordinator in the initiative, made sure to keep the process as visually interactive and beneficial for the children as possible:
“Adriana made this cute little graph for all of the kids. It was a lemonade tracker on how many cups of lemonade they sold,” Veis said. “Each time they sold a glass of lemonade or a glass of tea, they would color in a cup that was represented on the graph. At the end, all of the kids were so excited to see how many they had actually sold.”
Each of the six children had their own responsibilities to ensure that each customer was satisfied with their purchase.
“One of them would be the snack pass-arounder, or one of them would be the lemonade seller,” Veis said. “We also had cute toppings to put on top of the lemonade, [such as] strawberries and blueberries. That was [one of the kids’] jobs, and they would all switch and they all work together.”
In order to meet their fundraising goal, there had to have been a solid turnout.
“We had a good turnout. Lots of their friends who live in the community showed up, grandparents showed up, aunts and uncles showed up, friends from other parts of the community would show up,” Veis said. “The kids were so ecstatic every single time somebody would show up. They would say, ‘We have another customer,’ then they would all get into formation. It was very cute and sweet to see them get this excited. Not a single one of them, at the end, [asked if they earned the money]. They all understood what the money was going towards.”
Jack Veis, 7, reflected on his experiences, and said he enjoyed having his friends who came and visited.
“[My favorite part] was when my friends came,” Jack said.
During the lemonade stand, he had many important jobs.
“[I was] putting the toppings in, and putting the lids and the straws.”
