Around the country little kids are getting into hot water for selling lemonade without a permit. They’ll soon have help with those fines and permits. Country Time is helping young entrepreneurs pay for permits and fines related to their lemonade stands.
Country Time is a Kraft Heinz brand. Adam Butler is the corporation’s general manager of beverage and nuts. When he found out about a little girl’s lemonade stand being shut down, he thought it was a joke. “[It] had to be an urban myth,” he told Fox Business. “After looking into it and seeing even more instances, we realized these weren’t myths, they were real stories.”
Over Memorial Day weekend, local police shut down a lemonade stand run by three young brothers. They didn’t have the necessary permit.
The boys are ages 6, 4 and 2. They wanted to raise money for a little boy in Indonesia they found out about through Compassion International. “We have never had a lemonade stand and the boys thought Memorial Day weekend is going to be great weather, so why not have a lemonade stand across the street in the park,” their mom Jennifer Knowles said in an interview with Channel 7 in Denver.
Just 30 minutes after opening shop, they noticed police officers coming their way. “[T]hey said that because my boys and I did not have permits for a lemonade stand they shut us down and we had to stop immediately,” Knowles said. “My boys were crushed. They were devastated.” Someone at a nearby art show called the police because the stand was “undercutting” their business.
The city later said the boys didn’t need a permit.
But this summer is going to be different. Country Time has started an initiative called “Country Time Legal-Ade.” Parents of youngsters who want to have a lemonade stand can apply for help with permits or fines. Country Time will reimburse them for the cost, up to $300. With every re-tweet of their tweet, they will donate $1 (up to $500,000) for kids who want to set up lemonade stands in the coming years.
Kids across the country are getting busted for operating lemonade stands without a permit. We're taking the lead to #SaveLemonadeStands by paying for kids' fines + permits this year. For every RT this gets we’ll donate $1 (up to $500,000) to help kids next year + beyond.
— CountryTime (@CountryTime) June 7, 2018
“Go ahead, kids. Run your lemonade stands. Country Time Legal-Ade is on your side and will protect you. When life hands you outdated laws, make lemonade, and get Legal-Ade,” the company said. For more information, go to Country Time Legal-Ade.
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