Community kids will have an opportunity to learn the importance of helping the less fortunate while at the same time raising critical funding for our most vulnerable citizens – homeless children.
The LemonAiD concept is easy, flexible and effective. Parents obtain LemonAiD registration materials for their child(ren), provide lemonade stand supplies, select the most convenient time and day to run a stand, provide appropriate support for their child(ren), and donate the proceeds to the Salvation Army’s Emergency Homeless Shelter which houses homeless families.
Registrations materials are now available online at www.lemonaidDays.org, or by visiting Whitaker Banks in Lexington and Georgetown, or The Salvation Army offices (736 W. Main St.).
Last year over 1,600 young people registered to have a lemonade stand and raised nearly $46,000 for homeless children.
The Salvation Army will kick off the LemonAiD Campaign Friday, June 29, with children and adults operating lemonade stands at Walmart stores in Lexington and Georgetown, as well as at a drive-thru stand run by the Boys and Girls Club at The Salvation Army. Cans of lemonade, donated by Coca Cola, will be given to individuals who make a donation and registration materials will be available.
The LemonAiD Days Campaign will run through the month of July. A Grand Finale is planned for Thursday, July 26, at Fayette Mall from 4 - 7 p.m. At the finale, children will pour their LemonAiD proceeds into the Giant Red Kettle, be greeted by LemonAiD Honorary Chair Bill Meck, receive a T-shirt from Walgreens and refreshments from Sonic.
Whitaker Bank Corporation of Kentucky, Car Town Kia, Walmart, Sonic and Lexington Heart Specialists, have stepped up to help homeless kids with a LemonAiD sponsorship gift of $5,000.00 each.
The Salvation Army operates the only comprehensive emergency shelter in the area for women and homeless families and 30 percent of those housed last year were children, according to a press release. LemonAiD proceeds will be used to provide basic needs for these children such as food, diapers, school clothing as well as help cover the cost of pre-school and after-school education provided by Salvation Army Early Learning Center and Boys and Girls Club staff. According to Major Debra Ashcraft, “An essential element to helping homeless families become self-sufficient is to provide child-care and educational activities for their children so parents are free to attend counseling, job training or go to work.”
For more information about lemonAiD visit www.lemonaidDays.org. or “like” us on Facebook – LemonAiD Days. For information about The Salvation Army visit www.SalvationArmyLex.org.