On a hot day in late July many Chelsea Residents were pleased to see over 80 Chelsea youth selling Lemonade throughout the city to benefit the Jimmy Fund. Students involved in the REACH program in 7th-12th grades planned the logistics and the business aspects for their “Lemonade Day” during the 6 week REACH summer program at Chelsea High School. Students learned how to market and advertise their business, created unique lemonade recipes, planned their locations and budgeted for their big day. Students worked as a team on the “Lemonade Day” and raised $500 for the Jimmy Fund which was donated through the Red Sox telethon. When the REACH staff member called in to give $500 the volunteer at the Jimmy Fund commented “I am near tears that these kids did this!”
An 8th grade student, Julianna Valle from the Brown School wrote about her experience with REACH Lemonade Day in the REACH Summer Newsletter. Julianna wrote:
Chelsea REACH summer is in the high school. Our group is selling lemonade at City Hall. Don’t worry, it’s going to be FRESH lemonade. The point of doing this is because we are giving some money to a non-profit called the Jimmy Fund for sick children who need support. We are also doing this for fun while learning how to run a small business. In class our group talked about our lemonade stand. We went to stores like Stop and Shop, the Restaurant Depo and even the Produce Center to check on the best prices for the ingredients. We talked about how to get people’s attention so they would come to our lemonade stand and not one of the other stands because the groups are competing to see who can raise the most money. We do this every year. We try to remember, it’s not for us, it’s for the community!
REACH wants to thank everyone who bought a lemonade on Lemonade Day and also thanks Community Suffolk for negotiating an excellent price with the student for the lemons!