Wish Upon A Car When is a reference to cars and lemons a good thing?
By Devlin Smith
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The idea of neighborhood kids setting up a lemonade stand on ahot summer day is as American as apple pie. For many people,it's their introduction to entrepreneurship. But for thechildren who participate in Car-X's Lemonade-for-Wishes programone weekend each summer, the stands mean much more.
Started at St. Louis Car-X locations in 1997, the annual eventraises money for the local Make-A-Wish Foundation chapter, whichhelps grant the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses.Kids pick up lemonade stand kits at participating Car-X auto repaircenters; each kit includes a lemonade recipe, two posters,background on the Make-A-Wish Foundation and a thank-you letterfrom the organization.
"Lemonade-for-Wishes encourages kids to go out and dosomething for other kids," says Allison J. Bauman, a Car-Xadvertising manager involved in organizing the fund-raiser."When the kids get that concept, when they understand'Wow, I'm raising money for someone my age who issick,' it's really amazing to watch theirresponse."
Lemonade-for-Wishes was brought to Chicago Car-X locations lastsummer with promotion from Radio Disney. Participants also receivedcontest entry forms with their kits. The weekend of thefund-raiser, 10 winners were chosen to receive a visit from RadioDisney's Party Patrol van.
Make-A-Wish was also a winner. Accepting donations for thelemonade they made, Lemonade-for-Wishes participants in Chicagoraised over $3,000 for Make-A-Wish.
Car-X hopes to see Lemonade-for-Wishes expand to their locationsnationwide. Says Bauman, "There's no reason we can'texplore that."
Contact Sources
- Car-X, 8750 Bryn Mawr West, #410E, Chicago, IL 60631,(773) 693-1000
- Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northern Illinois, (312)943-8956, jimenez@wishes.org
