When Life Hands Us Lemons, We Make…

Last year, First Teacher faced a critical moment of awakening  and growth. While we felt proud of how we raised money to progress our movement, we had not tapped into the most powerful resource - First Teacher families.  First Teacher is a community full of powerful and resourceful parents/caregivers. We realized that including families in our fundraising efforts is the most authentic way to access financial assets in the surrounding community.

Latoya Johnson, a powerful community organizer, child and family advocate, and First Teacher participant and parent leader, revitalized the idea of hosting community lemonade stands.  She had hosted one with her son, Devel, who enjoyed and learned so much from the experience. As Latoya shared this idea, it was clear to our Fundraising Task Force that hosting lemonade stands would be one of the best ways to integrate families into building the financial stability of our movement while representing the core values and guiding principles of First Teacher.  As families help fundraise for the movement, our children gain additional opportunities to acquire and refine real-life skills such as: social skills, math skills, flexible-thinking, writing skills (Myles, Simone’s son, wrote thank-you notes), and entrepreneurial skills!

Well, last year we challenged some First Teacher families and supporters to host lemonade stands. With the effort of many amazing leaders (First Teacher kids!) we raised $780!!!  This year, we invite more families, First Teacher staff and other supporters to join us in #operationlemonade. We choose to continue this model of fundraising because we believe our fundraising tactics should mirror our mission: communities supporting each other!  We are so excited to begin our second year of fundraising through Lemonade Stands. This year, our goal is to raise $5,000 by hosting 40 lemonade stands throughout all of Boston!

Thank you to everyone who supported our first Lemonade Stand at the JP Mom’s Yard Sale on Saturday, April 27, 2018!  

Please support us as we host additional lemonade stands around the city of Boston on most Saturdays.

If you are eager to join us in #operationlemonade please contact Karla at kguerrero@firstteacherboston.org, call the First Teacher office (617-238-7275) or stop by: 221 Blue Hill Avenue in Roxbury, MA.