The child was selling lemonade. Then cops surrounded him. Most kids love doing anything that involves selling something. It could be a toy they no longer play with, clothes they’ve outgrown. Or in this case, lemonade’s stand is a perfect way for kids to make a little money and learn essential life skills. There are many reasons why kids love having a lemonade stand.
It could be because they want to earn a little money of their own, or maybe it’s because it’s a way to show off their entrepreneurial skills. Whatever the reason may be, several benefits come from allowing your child to set up shop. A lemonade stand is an excellent way for kids to learn about money and marketing. They’ll need to figure out how much it costs to make the lemonade and how much to charge for it.
This is also a perfect opportunity to teach them about customer service and interacting with people. In addition, running a lemonade stand is a great way to teach kids about responsibility. They’ll need to keep track of the money and make sure that they’re making enough to cover their costs. This is also an excellent opportunity for them to learn how to work as part of a team if they have help from siblings or friends.
Shows over it was the biggest achievement of his young life. The boy counted out his day’s earnings and was so excited to be a little closer to his fundraising goal. Plus, that mean old lady had finally left him alone. But when three police cars screeched to a halt in front of his stand, his hard earned cash dropped to the ground.
As he stared open mouthed at the tall officer looming over his stand, ambitious kid Gina Martin couldn’t believe her eight year old son’s response when their air conditioner broke down. It was at the height of summer in 2018, and young Jacob suggested setting up a lemonade stand to raise the cash to repair it. But the Gladstone mom was worried not just about the responsibility, but also because his speech impediment meant the local kids might bully him.
Ultimately, she felt it would be a good experience for him, and at least it would keep him out of trouble. First Customer but first, Jacob needed a place to set up shop. As his birthday happened to be approaching, jacob’s older brother Christian bought him his very own stand as an early gift. Jacob was over the moon with his brother’s kind present and got to work perfecting his lemonade recipe.
Soon enough, he was ready to open the stand. But when his first customer demanded to speak to his mother, jacob started to panic. Booming business. That’s one of the best glasses of lemonade I’ve ever had in my life, said the man. You should be very proud of this young man. The secret is the lemons, said Jacob proudly. I squeezed them myself.
Soon, Jacob had a line of customers from all over the neighborhood, even mrs. Granger from next door bought one. She wasn’t usually very friendly to him at all, so he didn’t think twice about the fact she didn’t say thank you until the next morning. That is bitter, lady. Do you have a permit? Do you have a health permit? A food handler’s permit?
Mrs. Granger demanded, waving some legal printouts in the boy’s face. But jacob didn’t understand, and she was scaring him. Fortunately, gina was there in time before the cruel neighbor made her son cry. As a customer, I want to know, if I get sick off of this, who should I go to? Worried about her son, gina thought it best to close down the stand until she could work out what to do.
Then she came up with an idea. Above board. Gina wrote a message to the local government’s facebook page asking if her son really needed a permit to sell lemonade. Not understanding the situation, jacob, who had already decided to donate some of his earnings to the local church, made his own permit and stuck it on the side of his stall. But when miss granger saw it, she just glared at him and stormed off indoors.
Angry. Mom, I was flabbergasted dumbfounded. Gina told kshbt she had been worried that jacob would be teased by kids in the area, but she never dreamed that a grown up adult would pick on him. Gina still hadn’t received a response from the government, so she decided to let jacob reopen his stall because it made him so happy.
But with no permit, she had no idea what jacob would soon be facing. Nervous kid when he first opened his stall, jacob was having a great time. The positive feedback from the customers in the neighborhood gave him the confidence boost he needed. But he was worried about the things mrs. Granger was saying. Could he really get in trouble? He was starting to think it wasn’t worth it if it was making someone angry.
And at that moment, he saw the flashing lights approaching his house. Game over. Three squad cars pulled up outside jacob’s house. He had never seen so many police officers, so he knew something was up. I thought it was an emergency somewhere, jacob said. Was his permit not good enough? He turned and saw mrs. Granger peering through the curtains with a smug grin on her face. One of the cops stood over jacob.
He gulped and held out his permit. Model citizen. The officers had read gina’s facebook post and came right away. But they hadn’t rushed to the scene to shut down jacob’s business. They were all desperate to try his lemonade. Mrs. Granger was fuming when she saw the long line of officers all sampling jacob’s popular refreshment.
But when she slyly informed the cops that his permit was just a piece of paper with permit written on it, they realized there would be a problem if jacob wanted to continue selling lemonade. Seal of approval. Fortunately, the Police Had Brought Some Stickers With Them to Give Jacob’s Permit an Official Feel. Christian Couldn’t Believe How Kind The Police Had Been To His Little Brother, and Was Very Grateful For Them for Supporting His Business Venture So Publicly.
The Officers Even Paid Jacob More Than The Asking Price to Help With His Fundraising. But Mrs. Granger Was About To Become Seriously Angry about How The Situation Would Unfold. Word Out Local Firefighters and The Sheriff’s Department soon Heard about How Good Jacob’s Lemonade Was and Also Showed Up To Support Him.
We Heard A Local Friend Of Ours, Jacob, Had A Less Than Ideal Interaction Yesterday At His Lemonade Stand, the Sheriff Wrote On Their Facebook Page. So We Wanted To Let Him Know We Have His Back. A Lemonade Stand Can Be Very Profitable depending Upon The Price And The Costs. Most Businesses Don’t Know what Their Total Unit Cost Is, and They Have No Idea What Their Sales Price Should Be.
Once They Understand How To Create A Quality Product, market It, And Sell It At A Reasonable Price, they Can Make A Profit. After All, Lemonade Is Mostly Water with Just A Bit Of Flavoring And Sugar And Ice. The Parents Provide Most Of The Raw Materials, so The Kids Have Almost Total Profit, not Counting The Cost To The Parents. So If They Can Have Enough Sales, They’ll Make A Profit. Why Do They Encourage It?
Because Teaching Kids How To Run A Small Business is A Great Way To Give Them A Great Start in Helping Them To Create Their Own Futures. There Are Actually Zoning Laws About Lemonade Stands. Believe It Or Not, some Jurisdictions Take These Seriously, some Do Not. There Are Laws About Selling Food And Drink As Well, so You Need To Find Out what Your Jurisdiction Is Like About Such Things. Also, Of Course, The Child Cannot Be Outside Selling Lemonade for A Very Long Period Of Time, especially If They’re Young.
Jacob Continued To Sell His Lemonade to The Local Community and Eventually Made His Donation To The Church, which Is Exactly What You Do When Life Gives You Lemons, Right? This Example Raised Community Solidarity. An Illinois Community Is Rallying Behind 213 Year Old Boys after Their Lemonade Stand Was Robbed At Gunpoint.
Jude And Tristan Were Selling Lemonade In Peoria On August 7 when They Were Approached By Two Men. One Who Was Holding A Gun, said Officer Amy Dotson of The Peoria Police Department. CNN Is Identifying The Boys by Their First Names to Protect Their Privacy. The Men Stole Their Cash Box, which Contained Around $30, and Fled On Foot.
The Incident Is Still Under Investigation, and No Arrests Have Been Made. According To Police, the Boys Were Just Shocked. They Couldn’t Process What Was Happening until It Was Over. Nathan Peterson, Jude’s Father, Told CNN, I Got A Call From Police saying, hey, Your Kids Are Okay, but They Just Got Robbed. I Almost Blacked Out.
I Was Just So Scared I was trying to get there as fast as possible. But when he arrived at the scene, Peterson found something he didn’t expect a community rallies together. As news of the incident spread throughout Peoria, neighbors, friends and even strangers began donating money to the boys to encourage them not to give up.
So far, more than $3,500 has been raised through Facebook fundraisers and PayPal donations. According to Peterson. There was so much love poured out on them so fast after the incident and so much of it for so many days in a row that their main experience from this incident has been of love and support, he said. The intent of this money comes from a deeper place, just wanting to live in a world that’s safe for a 13 year old to have a lemonade stand.
