Our story

Lemonade Day in the Wabash Valley

Lemonade Day was first introduced to Terre Haute in 2012, with ties directly to the community and overwhelming community support, it just made sense. The founder of Lemonade Day National, Michael Holthouse, is a graduate of Indiana State University, and Terre Haute is committed to providing experiences to our youth to help them achieve their dreams. The program first began under the leadership of Courtney Richey at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. As the program grew a strategic alliance was formed with Wabash Valley Junior Achievement which has allowed the program to extend reach to the entire Wabash Valley. Junior Achievement provides classroom education focusing on financial literacy, entrepreneurship and workforce development. Lemonade Day is a practical extension from the classroom and allows children to see first hand what it is like to be an entrepreneur. Our goal is not just to have stands all around the Wabash Valley on lemonade day, it is to teach youth valuable skills and inspire them to think about what they would want to create and run the other 364 days in the year. There is no age limit to entrepreneurship! Lemonade Day in our community would not be possible with out our city champion, Mr. Marc Evans.

Marc Evans-City Champion

A true entrepreneur and leader of the Lemonade Day Vision

Marc Evans, father, entrepreneur, business man and philanthropist will tell you the reason he is behind Lemonade Day is because of the opportunity for the future.

Born in Springfield Illinois in 1957 Marc was the first person in his family to go to college, graduating from Bradley University in 1979. His education granted him many opportunities, such as being one of the youngest Coca Cola managers at the age of 22, working with a fortune 500 company and being a National Marketing Director within the largest exclusive funeral home association a few years later. Through his education and real life experiences Marc decided to embark on his own entrepreneurial dreams by founding his own advertising/marketing/PR firm in 1985. Though Marc had no clients and no investment capital he was able to create a successful business for 17 years. His business grew to two locations, Chicago and Springfield, with 20 employees serving 15 states and Canada. In 2001 he was able to evolve his skills into the consulting world where he helped business succeed by leveraging their resources through marketing/sales strategies and customer service instead of cutbacks and layoffs.

The corporate world was happy to have him back when in 2007 he went to work as a regional marketing manager with Sodexo Corporate at DePauw University, when relocating his family decided that Terre Haute was where they wanted to call home. While in Terre Haute Frontier Communications approached Marc for their Regional General Management position for SW Indiana, they needed someone that understood how to run a business and Marc was the perfect fit. Frontier’s philosophy being centered on local engagement and local passion, Marc has had the opportunity to be involved in many ventures aimed at improving the Terre Haute Community. When he heard about Lemonade Day in early 2012 he was immediately intrigued and felt it could be an answer to what he saw as a concern in the local community.  Marc was quoted as saying” In Vigo County there is a large gap between the disbursement of income and those that are immediately affected are the youth. Entrepreneurship is a way we can help the youth move up and be able to create their dreams right here in Terre Haute. It is important to start educating the youth about entrepreneurship at a young age so they have the chance to find their passion and make the most out of their lives”.

Though Marc sees his college education as invaluable, he understands it may not be in everyone’s life plan, entrepreneurship early on can help a child plan for college or even help them to have another choice. Marc is passionate about Lemonade Day because of the endless opportunities that go along with it. It is not about the one day of selling lemonade it is about the 364 other days that a child can be learning and creating their own entrepreneurial future.