MATTHEW BURNETTE
Staff Writer

For its fifth year, Lemonade Day not only brought the community together for a day of fun, cool beverages and sweet treats, but the youth entrepreneurship program raised its largest amount in the event’s short but impactful history.

This year’s event on May 15 managed to bring in a whopping $43,356.48 for all of the schools in the county and city school systems.

“Lemonade Day started as a fun idea,” Manchester Chamber President Katy Riddle said. “Now in its fifth year, it has turned into a community celebration of student entrepreneurship, school spirit, and business connections. We are beyond thankful that the Manchester community has embraced this program in such a beautiful, successful way.”

Each school’s students get to decide how they use the money they raised in three categories: they pick a nonprofit to give to, they come up with a way to reward themselves for their hard work and then they put some of the money back into their school in whatever way they choose.

Students that participated in Lemonade Day from the eight elementary schools of both Coffee County and Manchester City planned and implemented their own stands both at the schools and at various businesses around Manchester as part of the youth entrepreneurship program.

450 students participated in Lemonade Day this year. Each school also got its own unique colored cup to sell lemonade this year.

This year’s Lemonade Day saw its largest number of sponsors, and over 25 businesses in the area hosted lemonade stands from banks.