Standing tall – The community and commerce of the lemonade stand

Support your local lemonade stand. Because it’s about a lot more than just water, sugar and lemons.

This is the lesson I learned on a recent sunny Saturday morning as hundreds of lemonade stands popped up around the city, giving young entrepreneurs the chance to sell their concoctions and pursue some of their dreams.

One family set up their handcrafted stand, titled “Wild Child Lemonade,” at the Goodyear shop across from Blue Bayou Water Park. There, 7-year-old Eloy Bokhari was marketing chief and lemonade specialist. He wants to take his family on an African safari with the money he raises selling lemonade. And he’s completely serious about this plan.

“I want to see a cheetah, because it’s the fastest animal,” Eloy says of his dream.

Eloy and his younger cousin Majd personally asked for donations of wood and paint to help build the black-and-yellow stand. The boy’s endeavors were facilitated by the Louisiana Lemonade Day Program, which provides information to help young entrepreneurs and their mentors to start a small business, encouraging them to pursue their dreams or donate profits to charity.

Eloy’s mother Yvonne Bokhari says her son has been asking to set up a stand at their house for months.

“He has a learned a lot,” Yvonne says. “He created the fliers and worked on the accounting with Dad. He’s taking the business seriously but having fun along the way.”

Bokhari says the boy’s late grandmother had been a big influence in their lives, always encouraging them to save money.

Eloy and Majd are both former Cub Scouts and proudly wore their uniforms all day. They offered lemonade, donuts and popcorn for about $1.

“Last night we were squeezing lemons for at least two hours,” Yvonne says, laughing. “It made a big sticky mess.”

Standing just behind the food tent was Eloy’s father, Khalid Bokhari, making sure his son customers gave the correct change. The elder Bokhari said he also hopes to travel to Africa, when the boys are in high school and have raised enough money.

“Right now we have two bank accounts,” he explains. “Eloy’s [account] has $602, and Majd’s has about $200. We’re already planning for next year. They’re definitely still into it.”

Not 15 minutes away from the Wild Child stand was another drink stop at Perkins Road Park, this one run by five brothers spanning ages 3 to 16. Their stand, titled 5 Bros., was managed by 12-year-old Donovan Thomas, who planned the project for more than a month.

Donovan’s mother, Dawn Thomas, says they will make a donation to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, as it holds a special place with her family.

“My 7-year-old was one of the participants of the backpack program,” she says. “We benefited from that program for one year, and I believe out of other charities that is one of the most important—to be feeding kids during the summer who would otherwise go without food.”

Along with the Food Bank donation, the brothers will tithe 10 percent of their earnings to God and divide the rest five ways, with Donovan receiving the most.

As a first-time participant in the program, Donovan wanted to sell brownies, cookies and pralines, too. He wanted not one, but three flavors of lemonade. He wanted to go big. His mother said he started cooking at 5 p.m. after school and finished at 1 a.m. the morning of the lemonade sale.

“Donovan is very ambitious,” his mother says. “When you have a great thing, he just goes for it. He says, ‘Mama, I want to do it.’ He loves to cook and bake. He makes smoothies for us every summer.”

Today is a proud day at 5 Bros., and one Dawn Thomas wants to see repeated as often as her children are interested in working together. So next summer’s Lemonade Day is a given, right? Maybe with another flavor added? “Oh, yes,” Dawn says. “Oh, yes.”