BY STEVEN GORDON, LEMONADE DAY NATIONAL PRESIDENT

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” – Cicero

It appears to me that there is a heightened sense of gratitude throughout our nation and I like what I’m seeing. I’m sure you have observed this, too. Neighbors helping neighbors. First responders and medical professionals working past exhaustion to heal us. Essential workers keeping our supermarkets and gas stations and food service available.

In this week’s blog, I’d like to point out what I’m grateful for. First, I want to thank moms across the nation. I hope you enjoyed a special day last Sunday. You are your kid’s biggest champions, cheerleaders, taste testers, stand builders, advertising team, and investors. Without your support, we wouldn’t have such great stories of lemonade stands, recipes, and most of all – kids who are excited to learn about owning a business where they can spend some of their profits, save some profits, and my favorite, share some profits with an organization that means so much to them. We are grateful to you and I know the organizations that your kids support, are grateful to them.

I am also so grateful to Lemonade Day supporters for helping to turn some of the sourest lemons our world has been dealt into the best lemonade we’re all able to make right now. Last week, Lemonade Day participated in the inaugural #GivingTuesdayNow as part of our campaign to raise $150,000 between now and the end of June to continue providing online engaging and fun business and financial lessons to our kids.

Entrepreneurship education is the cornerstone of Lemonade Day. When the organization was formed in 2007, the number of kids with entrepreneurial aspirations was dismal. Over the years, millions of budding entrepreneurs have been introduced to Lemonade Day’s lessons and principles. We know that it works. Look at some of our star alumni like Me and the Bees Lemonade, Ooh La Lemon and Trashbots. Their businesses started with a desire to solve a problem. After signing up for Lemonade Day and following the Lemonopolis curriculum, with great support from their inner circles, they have taken their lemonade stands and developed viable business models. That’s a great accomplishment for any business owner.

The Lemonade Day team, supported by our Board of Directors, has been hard at work developing more innovative resources that can be used online at a time when most of our programming events have been postponed and kids have been homeschooling for nearly two months now. We’re getting great feedback on our new Experts Explain video series that complements Lemonopolis, our #LemonLingo social media posts explaining business terms, and the many contests Lemonade Day cities around the country have implemented to help reinforce the Lemonopolis lessons.

I want to remind you that Lemonopolis is a free resource to kids who register for Lemonade Day – and registration is free, too! To find out more, visit https://lemonadeday.org/raisingcanes.

So much to be grateful for! Just sharing these words sparks an increased optimism in humanity and a more positive outlook for our kids. Let’s watch them excel together.

Please share this blog with your friends, family members, and co-workers. All of us at Lemonade Day appreciate your support!

I welcome your comments and suggestions at any time. Please email me at steven@lemonadeday.org.

For more information about Lemonade Day, please visit lemonadeday.org.