Our story

Lemonade Day is a FUN, FREE, ONLINE program to help keep your kids engaged in learning at home! Kids can use their creativity, learn business skills, and plan their lemonade business from home. They can find a way to sell their product (safely in person or online) to earn their own money!

Lemonade Day is a program of the Sacramento Metro Chamber Foundation. The foremost objective of Lemonade Day is to empower youth to take ownership of their lives and become productive members of society – the business leaders, social advocates, volunteers, and forward thinking citizens of tomorrow. 

Thank you to our 2021 Sponsors: Retirement Security Centers, Teichert, Umpqua Bank and the Sacramento Metro Chamber Foundation.

How It Works:

Lemonade Day is a free, fun, online, experiential learning program that teaches youth how to start, own and operate their own business – modeled through a lemonade stand.

Each child that registers can participate in an online curriculum that teaches them the lessons of Lemonade Day like creating budgets, setting profit-making goals, serving customers, repaying investors, and giving back to the community. Along the way, they acquire skills in goal-setting, problem solving, and gain self-esteem critical for future success. They keep all the money they make and are encouraged to spend some, save some and share some.
 

Reasons To Get Involved:

Lemonade Day is a pre-built curriculum that supports academic goals! It aligns with common core and TEKS standards and has a focus on the 40 developmental assets. Interested in getting involved? Complete this interest form and you will be contacted by our Lemonade Day Sacramento team.

2021 Success:

2021 was our biggest year to date! We partnered with 27 sites in the greater Sacramento Region, including The Glass Slipper, several YMCA locations, Rio Americano High School's Independent Living Skills Program, and Sacramento's Children's Home. This allowed us to serve nearly 1600 young entrepreneurs. We adapted our programming so that students could benefit from both in-person and virtual resources and some of our lemonade stands were featured on Good Day Sacramento. The students developed a business plan that included donating some of the money they earned to other local nonprofits, and they also learned about entrepreneurship, financial literacy and social and emotional learning.

“Lemonade Day brought brightness through COVID and provided a great opportunity for us to re-connect with the students and the community. Lemonade Day sparked not just interest within the girls, but enthusiasm. We did a lot of role playing and through the lessons and actual business implementation, it was a great way for the kids to express themselves.”

-The Glass Slipper, Jackie Guzman

2020 Success:

In 2020, the Metro Chamber Foundation partnered with local community organizations such as the YMCA and the Center, commonly known as the Sacramento Chinese Community Center that provides after-school and summer programming to youth in the Sacramento region. Due to COVID-19, we were unable to implement the program as planned. However, in an effort, to reach as many youth as possible, especially in a time when our youth needed it the most, we transitioned the Lemonade Day curriculum to an online program that was free and accessible to any youth with a computer and internet access. We had over 50 youth register for the program through organic and word-of-mouth promotions. We look forward to continuing to build on this online model.

An 2020 Impact Study was completed at the National level. You can read the full report here.

2019 Success:

In 2019, the Metro Chamber Foundation launched a pilot version of Lemonade Day at one local elementary school, Crocker Riverside. 45 students participated in the lessons and the group decided to host their lemonade stand at Open House where they were able to raise over $1,300!  The students were encouraged to take the money they earned and first pay back their "loans" for their supplies, and then take the remaining balance to save some, spend some, and donate some back into their community. The class was able to spend some by celebrating with a pizza party, save some by investing in lemon trees for the school to help with the sustainability of the program, and donate some by donating the remaining funds to Front Street Animal Shelter.

We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from students, parents, teachers, and the administration about the positive effects of Lemonade Day on their students. 

Join us in 2022!

Lemonade Day Sacramento is available for all youth in the Sacramento Region. We will also be partnering with a variety of schools and after-school and extracurricular programs.

There are also opportunities for sponsorship and mentorship. Email Andrea Ollanik for additional information or with any questions at aollanik@metrochamber.org.

Help us empower today’s youth to be tomorrow’s entrepreneurs!

Frequently Asked Questions:

How Do I register?

Registration for Lemonade Day Sacramento will be open in February 2021. Until then, please complete this interest form.

What is included in the online content and curriculum?

Lemonade Day includes 15 lessons that are broken into 4 modules, or steps to success - Set a Goal, Make a Plan, Work the Plan and Achieve your Dreams. Each lesson includes an introductory video, 1 to 3 activities, and an option to dig deeper or learn more about the concepts covered.

What is the appropriate age for someone to participate in Lemonade Day?

Lemonade Day is targeted for youth in 3rd and 5th grades but can be adapted for youth of all ages. We recommend that Lemonade Day curriculum is completed with the guidance of a parent, mentor, or caring adult who can provide additional support in the learning process. Youth must be registered by a parent or mentor, and a valid parent or mentor email address is required for participation.

What is the time commitment required to complete Lemonade Day?

Typically, the lessons in Lemonade Day can be completed in anywhere from 10-20 minutes. Depend on the lesson, some may take more or less time.

How much does it cost to participate in Lemonade Day?

Lemonade Day is free to those participating!