Photo By Janecze Wright | Six-year-old Mason Matamoros strikes a pose with his drill during the Build a Stand...... read more read more
Subscribe
HARKER HEIGHTS, Texas — Young aspiring business owners got one step closer to becoming Lemonade Day entrepreneurs during the Build a Stand event April 8, 2023, at Heights Lumber & Supply.
Twenty families participated in the event to construct lemonade stands from scratch and take them home to add their own unique personal touches.
Participating youth have completed a series of activities to prepare for Lemonade Day, and though it’s the most labor-intensive part of the process, Build a Stand provides an exciting glimpse of how their structures will look.
HLS has been a sponsor of the program for years and was thrilled to pick up where they left off before COVID.
“We’re just elated to be able to be a part of this,” expressed Kelly Eakin, owner of HLS. “We’re really happy to be able to do this and provide tools and things like that. We’re just really happy to be a part of it.”
Eakin mentioned that this year’s event is more hands-on than in previous years.
“Before, we taught the skills on what to do outside of here,” she explained. “Today, we’re gonna do it with them and they can leave with the stand and it’s just a great opportunity for the kids to learn.”
Lt. Col. Mark Lichak, 2-82 Field Artillery, agreed that the experience was a unique way to teach valuable lessons.
“It’s something different than just school,” he explained. “It’s something different than a sport or some kind of school based academic competition. It’s hands on. It’s out in the community, it’s with friends and it teaches them some life skills.”
The experience was a first for Lichak and his daughters Lilly, 10, and Amara, 13.
The event was also new for Jazzmin Ledesma and her children Siana, 11, Sonaia, 10, Sade, 6, and Sergio, 5. She appreciated that the program encourages kids to get inspired.
“It teaches them a sense of responsibility to foster their imagination. A lot of the time we tell them to stop being kids early, so I think it’s good that it helps them to play on that creativity that they have while they’re young.”
It’s that ingenuity the future business owners were encouraged to tap into to construct their stands. Building kits donated by HLS included two pallets, wooden boards in various sizes, assorted nails and screws and a drill that kids got to take home. After they received instructions, the youngsters got to work.
Lemonade stands began to take shape as parents and volunteers helped the young builders customize their structures. The front and sides of each stand consisted of pallets cut to size to accommodate the height and comfort of each child. Boards were used for makeshift counters and to hold the banner up above the stand. After each component was completed, the stands were ready to go home.
The experience was nostalgic for Sgt. Jamey Byrd, 74th Multi-Role Brigade Company.
“When I was growing up, we did the same thing to make money,” he recalled.
Byrd expressed that the program is teaching his kids, Nadiya, 8, and Khalil, 15, invaluable skills he wishes he would have learned early on.
“Somebody’s showing them how to make money and use it wisely and that’s a very important thing to learn,” Byrd said. “I didn’t know that when I was growing up. I wish I had somebody to teach me the same thing that this is doing for our kids.”
Jessica Pelache, executive vice president and director of customer experience for First National Bank Texas, a program sponsor, expressed immense pride in the youth participating in the program.
“I can’t tell you how incredible it is to watch these kids go from a lemonade day stand to something that just springboards into so many other entrepreneurial things,” she said. “They’re our future, so we are so excited to have an opportunity to help impress and educate our future entrepreneurs because we hope and expect them to be the next generation in this community.”
Kids have a few weeks to work on their stands and their recipes before the Best Tasting event on April 29, and they will officially open for business May 6.
| Date Taken: | 04.13.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.01.2023 11:51 |
| Story ID: | 442801 |
| Location: | HARKER HEIGHTS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 22 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Building lemonade stands builds character for youth, by Janecze Wright, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
