Kids create lemonade stand to help buy school clothes and supplies

APD NEWS

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Two North Carolina kids who wanted to give back to their families are showing their entrepreneurial colors under the vibrant yellow tent of their lemonade business.

Aniyah Williams, 11, and Isaiah Lattimer, 12, said they started "Sweet and Sour Lemonade" in Raleigh to help buy new clothes and school supplies for the upcoming school year.

A local community advocate Geraldine Alshamy said she noticed Lattimer trying to run a makeshift lemonade stand using an old refrigerator box and saw an opportunity to help the children get the business off the ground.

"I live near there and when I saw him I asked why they were selling it," Alshamy told ABC News. "They wanted new clothes and school supplies, so I decided to see how I could help."

"We got them a tent, a table and a recipe for lemonade and I taught them how to roll the lemons and mix all the ingredients so they could make fresh squeezed lemonade for people," she continued. "Everything else was on them."

Alshamy helped teach them basic business skills and believes the experience will teach them valuable social skills.

"There's math involved when they're tracking their money each day and they deduct the amount they pay for ingredients," she said. "So they're learning the basics of good business and how to get along, respect people, be grateful and share."

The local grocery stores and police department have been extremely supportive donating lemons and water to help their cause, Alshamy said.

"I just wanted to help them because they wanted to help themselves,"she said.

Alshamy estimated that the young pair has raised more than $800 in just over a month running the lemonade stand.

(ABC)