The Salvation Army and the Summer LemonAiD Campaign
I’ve shared a lot about The Salvation Army and their LemonAiD campaign this summer, but it wasn’t until recently that I got to visit one of the Salvation Army Learning Centers. Filled with smiles, structure, and kindness, this particular Learning Center hosts their own lemonade stands all summer long. It was so fun talking with the children at the center and hearing directly from them on why they love giving back to the community.
With ages ranging from 6-12 and various interests, the lemonade stands for kids in their community are a lot of fun and a topic for great conversations around community and the importance of helping others.
Zialab, age 10, tells me that she loves using her cheer skills to encourage cars to stop (safely) for a cup of refreshing lemonade while Dj, age 11, loves putting his artistic skills to use to create the posters.
It’s really a team effort between the entire group of children with one goal - to help the 1 in 4 children in Central Ohio who live in poverty.
Aalaya, age 6, is really passionate about helping kids and enjoys the LemonAiD stand program because she loves that her efforts are all to benefit other children in her community.
When I asked them why they thought their stands are so successful they told me it’s because of three reasons:
“Our teachers motivate us”
“Because we are helping kids”
“We work really hard”
Yes, they do. They work really hard.
Did you know?
● 1 in 4 children in Central Ohio live in poverty
● 1 in 5 children in our community go to bed hungry.
● 1 in 5 children are alone and unsupervised during the hours after school
● Only 15% of Ohio's K-12 children participate in after-school programs
● 1 in 30 children in Ohio experience homelessness.
Who better to help kids than other kids! Across central Ohio, parents are instilling values like generosity and community-mindedness in their kids through The Salvation Army's LemonAiD (#KidsHelpingKids) program. Kids participating in the program invite friends and family to donate while learning the priceless lesson that they can affect change in their community. The funds they raise will provide food and programs that lift children out of homelessness and poverty when they need it most. Parents and their kids, along with their families and friends, can help other kids by donating to www.SalvationArmyCentralOhio.org
