Young and eager entrepreneurs will be taking to the streets in communities across the Bering Strait region Saturday for Lemonade Day, a nationwide event that’s kicking off across Alaska to get kids involved with running a small business.
“It teaches kids about business, how to own and operate a business through having a lemonade stand,” said Alice Bioff, Kawerak’s city coordinator and organizer of the Lemonade Day events across the region.
The event is about more than evoking the classic summer scene of kids selling lemonade: they’ll be selling snacks and other items as they learn what it takes to break even.
“They can sell arts, crafts, baked goods,” Bioff says. “What’s great about Lemonade Day is, it’s totally up to the participants what they want to sell [and] where they want to set up shop.”
Now in its fifth year in Alaska and fourth in the region, nearly 300 kids participated in Lemonade Day around the Bering Strait last year. Just over 60 percent of the participating lemonade stands opened outside of Nome. Together the small businesses brought in more than $6,500 in earnings and another $2,500 in donations for local families, groups like the Nome Community Center and the XYZ Senior Center, and churches in Koyuk and Golovin.
But beyond bringing in money for good causes, Bioff says Lemonade Day gives kids a chance to balance the books of a real business, if only for the day.
“It’s not only fun, but they learn something from it … they learn good life skills from setting goals, to customer service, budgeting, how to work with money,” she said. “It’s just neat to see the kids get excited about the program.”
Bioff said it’s not just the participating children but also the volunteer coordinators and caring adults, donating time and materials, that have helped make the event a success.
To help thirsty Nome residents get around to all the community’s lemonade stands in Nome, Kawerak is offering free bus tours, departing from the Visitor’s Center on Front Street Saturday afternoon between 1 and 5 p.m.
Lemonade Day stands will also be open for business in Golovin, Teller, Gambell, Elim, Savoonga, White Mountain, Brevig Mission, Koyuk, Shaktoolik, Unalakleet, Wales, Diomede, Shishmaref, Stebbins and St. Michael.
Editor’s note: A version of this story aired and appeared online incorrectly stating the number of years Lemonade Day has taken place in Alaska. The above story includes the corrected information.
