Local kids learn basic skills of entrepreneurship through Lemonade Day

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)-  People in the Golden Triangle lined up to lemonade from young entrepreneurs. Ella Freeman, a participant, said where and how she sold her lemonade didn’t happen overnight. It took several days to plan.

“We’ve all been working hard on finding our lemonade stand and Friday is when we made the lemonade,” said Freeman.

Over 200 kids signed up to serve their community members a cold refreshing glass of their favorite lemonade recipes, but it wasn’t the case last year. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed coordinators to cancel the event.

“We got knocked back by covid last year so there was no lemonade day but this is our third year to do this it started just in Starkville and when we saw how successful it could be we grew it to encompass the whole golden triangle,” said coordinator Jeffrey Rupp.

Rupp said tents, booths, and stands were up and running as early as 10 a.m. on Saturday, and the rain didn’t stop participants from running their businesses.

“The kids rolled out of bed this morning and had a decision to make and this happens to a lot of business owners right. Do I open up? Will I get some business? Or do I just stay inside? So many kids have come out and they’re doing some business and that’s a business lesson,” said Rupp.

The day wasn’t about who had the best lemonade; it educated kids about operating a small business, investing, and money management.

“We tell the kids to do three things with the money they make to save some, makes sense right, to spend some to see what it’s like to spend money you made but we also ask them to share and give back to the community and so they’re raising money for all sorts of really worthy causes,” said Rupp.

Rupp said he plans to continue doing lemonade day annually.