Lemonade Day

Today is Juneteenth.

A day to honor the end of slavery in the United States, the freedoms it secured, and the long work that has followed it.

The work of building access, ownership, and economic agency in every community is not finished. At Lemonade Day, that work shows up in the small form of teaching every kid, in every city we are in, that they can build something of their own.

We honor the day and the people who made it possible. We honor the families and communities carrying it forward.

Behind every great lemonade stand is a great mentor. 💛

Lemonade Day is not just about the kids. It is about the parents, teachers, volunteers, and community members who show up to guide them.

Here is what mentors actually do:

📝 Help kids think through their business plan
💡 Encourage creative problem solving
💲 Teach real skills like budgeting and customer service
🎯 Help kids set goals they can actually hit
🤝 Show kids that someone believes in them

You do not need a business degree to mentor a Lemonade Day kid. You need to care, show up, and ask better questions than you answer.

Thousands of mentors helped kids launch their first businesses in 2025. Some were parents. Some were teachers. Some were local business owners who just wanted to give back.

📍 Want to mentor in 2026? Find your city: lemonadeday.org

Tag a mentor who showed up for a kid in your life. 👇

Be honest. What was YOUR first hustle? 🍋

Mowing lawns?
Babysitting?
Selling candy out of your backpack at school?
A lemonade stand (obviously)?

Whatever it was, you probably remember it better than your first "real" job.

Because that first hustle taught you something different:

😎 Nobody told you to do it. You just did it.
💵 You learned what your time was worth.
🤝 You talked to real customers. (Scary!)
✨ You felt that spark: "I can make things happen."

That is exactly what Lemonade Day gives kids today. Except now they get a step-by-step app, a curriculum, and a whole community to back them up.

Your kid deserves that spark too.

📍 Find your city: local.lemonadeday.org
👉 Register free: http://bit.ly/ld-start

Drop your first hustle in the comments. We want to hear it. 👇

The number one thing Lemonade Day kids walk away with is not the cash. 💛

It is a three-word framework most adults still struggle with: SAVE. SPEND. SHARE.

Here is how Lemonade Day kids actually break their earnings down:

🏦 SAVE: Put a portion away. For many kids, this is the first dollar they have ever saved on purpose, toward something they actually want.

🛒 SPEND: Enjoy the fruits of the work. A new game. A trip to the bookstore. The toy they have been eyeing for months.

❤️ SHARE: Donate a portion to a cause they pick themselves. Animal shelters. School libraries. Food banks. The children's hospital. The park down the street with the broken bench.

A few numbers from 2025 that tell the story:

📊 Lemonade Day kids saved $5.2 million
📊 Donated $3.1 million to charity, every dollar chosen by the kid who earned it
📊 87% of kids saved some of what they made
📊 72% donated some of what they made

This is a money model that most kids never get taught. And it is the one that compounds for life.

📍 Find your city: local.lemonadeday.org
👉 Register free: http://bit.ly/ld-start

If you could go back, what would YOUR first SAVE, SPEND, or SHARE goal have been? Drop it below. 👇

This weekend, kids across the country opened their first business. 🍋

Some highlights from your DMs (we love every one of these):

🍋 A 9-year-old who sold out by 11am and had to put up a hand-drawn "BACK BY 1PM" sign
🍋 Twin sisters who split their stand into "fruit smoothies" and "classic lemonade" and let customers vote
🍋 A 7-year-old whose first customer was a local landscaper, who came back later with his whole crew
🍋 A 10-year-old who charged $1 extra for a custom hand-drawn cup (genius pricing strategy)
🍋 An 8-year-old whose grandma flew in just to be customer number one

To every kid who opened a stand this weekend: you did the thing. You took the leap. You are an entrepreneur now.

To every parent who ran the lemons, held the sign, and stepped back at the right moment: thank you for trusting them.

And if your city's June Lemonade Day is still ahead, the biggest weekend of the month is coming up. Plenty of time to register and plan a great stand.

📍 Find your city's date: local.lemonadeday.org/
👉 Register free: http://bit.ly/ld-start

Tag a kid who crushed it this past weekend. We want to celebrate them. 👇

Tomorrow is one of the biggest stand days of the year. 🍋☀️

In cities across the country, thousands of kids will set up their first business tomorrow morning. Some of them have been planning this for weeks. Some of them just decided yesterday.

Either way: tomorrow, they go.

If your kid is opening a stand tomorrow:

🛌 Get to bed at a normal time (the morning is going to be exciting enough)
🍋 Lemons in the fridge, ice in the freezer, change in a bag
🪧 Sign already made? Great. Not yet? It takes 15 minutes and a Sharpie
☀️ Forecast checked, umbrella plan ready if needed
🤝 Partner confirmed (if you have one)
😴 One last pep talk before sleep ("you've got this")

If you are not opening tomorrow but you live somewhere stands are popping up: drive a little slower past corners and parks this Saturday. Stop if you see one. Round up. Tell the kid they are doing great. Tell the parent, quietly, you noticed.

Either side of the table, tomorrow matters. 💛

📍 Find a stand near you or your city's June date: local.lemonadeday.org/

Tag a kid opening a stand tomorrow. Or tag your own city if you'll be out supporting. 👇

A line from one of our post-Lemonade-Day kid surveys that we keep thinking about:

"My mom let me figure it out by herself. I felt like a grown-up."

The kid noticed that their parent stepped back. They noticed that this day was different from school, or chores, or sports. They got to do something usually only adults get to do, and they handled it.

That feeling is the whole point of Lemonade Day. The lemonade is the excuse. The dollars are the proof. The shift in how a kid sees themselves is what they keep.

You can teach a child how to run a business. You cannot teach them what it feels like to be trusted with one. That only happens when a parent says yes and then steps back.

That is what "preparing youth for life" actually means.

Some of our favorite words ever come from eight-year-olds. 🍋

Here is what kids told us right after their first Lemonade Day:

🗣️ "I didn't know I could make REAL money."
🗣️ "I want to do this EVERY year!"
🗣️ "I learned that smiling at people works."
🗣️ "I donated to the animal shelter because I love dogs."
🗣️ "I'm going to start a REAL business someday."
🗣️ "It was the best day of my whole summer."

And the one that stayed with us:

🗣️ "My mom let me figure it out by herself. I felt like a grown-up."

That last one? That is the whole point.

Lemonade Day kids don't just earn a few dollars. They walk away with proof. Proof they are capable. Proof they can handle real responsibility. Proof they have something to offer the world.

That kind of confidence does not come from a worksheet. It comes from a folding table, a stack of cups, and a parent who said yes.

📍 Want this for your kid this summer? Find your city: local.lemonadeday.org/
👉 Register free: http://bit.ly/ld-start

Which one hit you hardest? Drop the emoji below. 👇

Here is the part of Lemonade Day most people do not see. 💛

Lemonade Day is in 97 cities across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Every single one of them is powered by local people who said yes:

🏙️ City directors who run the local program (often as volunteers, on top of their day job)
🏪 Sponsors who fund the curriculum so families never pay a dollar
🧑‍🏫 Teachers who bring Lemonade Day into classrooms and turn math homework into market research
👨‍👩‍👧 Parents and mentors who give up a Saturday to help a kid plan a stand
🛒 Local businesses who let kids set up out front

A few things our communities made possible in 2025:

📊 4,130 lemonade stands launched
💵 $11.2 million earned by kids
❤️ $3.1 million donated to charity, picked by the kids themselves
🏦 $5.2 million saved
🌎 13 brand new communities joined the family

None of that happens without the people who show up locally.

Special shoutout to those who have supported us!

📍 Want to bring Lemonade Day to YOUR community? Link in bio.

Tag your city director, your sponsor, or a volunteer who deserves the credit. 👇

What separates a $40 stand from a $400 stand? 🍋

It is not the lemonade. It is the setup.

Here is the anatomy of a stand that crushes it (according to thousands of Lemonade Day kids who have done this):

🪧 A big, bright, readable sign (people decide from across the street)
💲 A clear price posted before they ask (no awkward math)
🧊 Cold lemonade, visible ice, no warm pitchers
🫙 A tip jar in front (you would be surprised what people drop in)
😊 A practiced greeting ("hi, would you like some lemonade?")
📍 A spot with foot traffic (a corner beats a quiet driveway)
🤝 A partner or two (more fun, more energy, more sales)

Bonus from a 10-year-old kid CEO: "Make eye contact and smile. Every. Single. Customer."

This Saturday is one of the biggest June Lemonade Day weekends of the year. Your kid still has time to set up something great.

📍 Find your city: local.lemonadeday.org/
👉 Register: http://bit.ly/ld-start
📱 Get the app for the full curriculum: http://bit.ly/ld-getapp

What is the one thing you think makes the BIGGEST difference for a stand? Drop it below. 👇