Kids Wanna Help®

The Kids Wanna Help® Lemonade Brigade™ is a very interactive fundraiser that gets kids involved in fundraising at all levels. A Young Business Owner Workshop kicks off the summer Lemonade Brigade™ by teaching kids how to start their own businesses and then how to run them successfully. Once the kids are fully prepared to run their own professional lemonade stands, they get advice on choosing a charity that is just right for them. Then representatives from several charities make presentations to the members of the Lemonade Brigade™ explaining what their charity is all about, who they help and how their charity could benefit from the money raised from the lemonade sales. The young business owners have an opportunity to ask tough questions, like “How much of the money I donate will go to overhead?” Based on these presentations, the Lemonade Brigade™ teams make their own decisions about which charity or charities they are going to support through their lemonade sales over the summer. At the end of the summer, the money raised by the Lemonade Brigade™ teams is donated to the charities at an awards ceremony. At this ceremony, Kids Wanna Help™ recognizes the most successful teams as well as individual kids whose efforts really stood out over the summer. The team awards are given to the teams that raise the most money, the team with the most creative marketing, the team with the most lemonade stands over the summer and the team who made the most money in one day. The awards for individual team members are based on nominations submitted by their teammates. These awards include best team player and best team leader.

The Lemonade Brigade™ is open to all girls in 3rd - 8th grades and all boys in 4th – 8th grades. There are opportunities for older kids to help out as Team Assistants at the Workshop and we encourage younger kids to get involved as Supporters (helping older siblings and friends at the lemonade stands).

The 2008 and 2009 Lemonade Brigade™ teams raised $16,864.75 and donated it to the following organizations: Special Olympics Louisiana, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Covington Food Bank, J.L. Foundation , Parenting Center of St. Tammany Parish Hospital,American Cancer Society, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, STARC, Pelican Bark Park, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Mary Payton’s Miracle Foundation, Children’s Advocacy Center, St. Tammany Art Association, St. Joseph’s Abbey Pennies for Bread, St. Tammany Humane Society, World Wildlife Fund and CUSO-VSO which is an organization that helps women and children in Africa who have Aids.