For those of you who've been to my office, you may or may not have noticed a small statue of a Norman Rockwell's "The little Salesman" sitting on the corner shelf... it is three kids holding a pitcher and cups with a sign that reads "lemonade .05 cents". What is the relevance one might ask? Well I had the opportunity to share with some children earlier this week. Now I'll share with you...The lemonade stand for me is a wonderful metaphor for lots of things. Here are just a few.
I was surprised by a mom, 2 brothers and their sister who stopped by my office to drop something off. They had held a lemonade stand in their driveway over the summer to benefit the food pantry, and had an envelope for me filled with the proceeds from their effort. They had raised $36 to help families in Ridgefield who need help putting food on their tables. The children's faces were glowing when we explained to them that they had just provided probably 12 families with cereal, peanut butter and jelly, vegetables or pasta dinners. And that the people they were helping; go to school, church or play sports with them. They had no idea how this small act of kindness could have impacted so many lives. The pride was palpable (and I happen to know they are already planning their next charity event).
I took a moment to dust off my statue and brought it over to show the kids. I shared with them why I keep that statue in my office and why it means so much. They probably had no idea that 3 little kids and their mom could be so powerful toward making change and helping others. They had just helped 12 families...maybe with 20 kids. In fact if you search the internet for the now famous Alex's Lemonade stand, there is an accounting with stories, videos and photos of kids helping others through selling lemonade. Alex's first lemonade stand raised a whopping $2,000 for childhood cancer research. Now, the foundation reports to have raised more than $60 million toward cancer research. Talk about kids being powerful forces for change.
The second part of the metaphor I'll share is for us adults, and speaks to why I dusted off my statue. There is a book called "Stopping at every lemonade stand" by James Vollbracht that I read years ago. The author makes the point to his readers that one of the biggest and best ways to change a child's life is to stop, pay attention to them, ask them a question, show them you are interested and you care... and if you have the opportunity maybe even buy a glass of lemonade. You see by intentionally stopping at every opportunity and taking a moment to ask ourselves, "how can I make this experience with this child meaningful?" we make the world a better, more accepting, more caring and safer environment for kids to grow up. We in the business call it "intentionality" or intentionally doing something to enhance that experience with the child. In this moment rather than saying thank you from behind my desk, I got down on one knee with statue in hand to explain to them at eye level how awesome I thought they were and how grateful I was.
While during the summer, we have plenty of chances to stop at real lemonade stands; EVERY DAY we adults have the chance to stop for our own kids, for those kids we know and even to stop for those we don't know to make a difference. And even when it is too cold to be selling that tasty cold beverage on your driveway, also remember that our kids have the ability to be difference makers too.
What lemonade stand will you be stopping at today?
