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Sweet Success: Leroy’s Lemonade Day Journey BY AMANDA MILLER
W hen Leroy Hayward, III was five-and-a-half years old, his parents–Leroy Jr. and Sherilyn–learned that Leroy was on the autism spectrum and was experiencing hearing loss. In the beginning, navigating through his unique differences was challenging, as Leroy wasn’t interested in any sports or activities. “He wasn’t comfortable around a lot of people and crowds, and so we knew we had to find something that would bring Leroy joy. He was a happy kid; he just didn’t like all the activity,” says Sherilyn. With determination to find something Leroy would enjoy, his parents discovered Lemonade Day. Lemonade Day is a nationwide initiative that teaches children how to start, own, and operate their own business–a lemonade stand. Through the program, children learn the process of setting a profit goal for their business. They are encouraged to then “spend some” of their profits, so they can experience the excitement of purchasing something with their own money. The next step is to “save some,” which teaches
them the importance of saving money and establishing good money habits. Finally, the program encourages children to “share some” by donating some of their profits to a local nonprofit or cause of their choosing. “Since Lemonade Day shows kids how to be entrepreneurs and give back, [we thought] let’s just teach Leroy how to give back. Maybe that’ll make him feel good, since giving makes you feel good,” she explains. The family set up Leroy’s stand on Lemonade Day, and his experience was a huge success. Sherilyn recalls, “Leroy just loved giving out his lemonade. He wasted all of it over most of the people, but it was okay, because nobody treated him differently. He just gave it away. Most people didn’t get a chance to pay, so they gave a donation, because when they would walk up, he was just giving out all the lemonade.” The family brought their donations to Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, as the hospital was a part of Leroy’s journey. Sherilyn explains that Leroy simply lit up with excitement when he was able to hand
over money to the nurses at the hospital. Joy was radiating from him, and they knew then that they had found something Leroy truly loved. However, that was only the beginning for Leroy and his lemonade. The family went on to participate in Lemonade Day the following year…and the next year…and Leroy’s lemonade stand kept growing and growing. The family even entered their lemonade into a tasting contest for all of Southeast Louisiana–and they won! “Some of the chefs and the people there said, ‘this is so good, you have to do something with it,’ and that’s when we decided, you know what? Let’s make it a business and it’ll give Leroy a place to work, and so we made it a business in 2014,” says Sherilyn. Officially known as Leroy’s LipSmack’n Lemonade, the business has given Leroy an opportunity to thrive, providing him the confidence he needs to be around crowds and sell his lemonade. Leroy’s lemonade can even be found in LSU’s Tiger Stadium, which has really launched the business to a new level. While growth for the business
30 AUGUST 2024 | BRPARENTS.COM
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