Start planning now! Getting ready for your April Lemonade Stands!

In a little less than a month, we'll be gathering 'virtually' for our Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand Kick-Off Event! The planning team is very excited about this event, which features a live performance of the Alex's Lemonade song by Whitehall High School and remarks from Liz Scott, Alex Scott's mother and Vice President of Development for Alex's Lemonade Stand. Pennsylvania State Representative Mike Gerber will also be joining us!

It's time to start planning your lemonade stands and how you'll implement the special projects in which your school will be participating. Schools participating in the Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand project will have 2 weeks to host a Lemonade Stand. Schools can have a one-day lemonade stand fundraiser or hold a stand every day for the two week period or some other combination! Last year, some schools held special events during lunch while others invited the community to after school stands. One Philadelphia school held an "Alex's Water Ice" stand on their playground and sold hot dogs and water ice! We've included their pictures in this blog entry.

Need ideas? Not sure where to start? Download the guide for setting up events, produced by Alex's Lemonade Stand! The guide, in PDF format, is available on the project website at: http://www.magpi.net/programs/alexslemonade.html.

In the next two weeks, each participating school will receive a package of resources from Alex's Lemonade Stand, including: return envelopes, banners, thank you notes, stickers, newsletter and brochures.

We're curious about what your school will be doing! We currently have 15 schools signed up for this project (everywhere from Oklahoma to Ohio to Pennsylvania) and we know that each of you will be doing really interesting and inspiring things as part of this project. Let us know your plans by leaving a brief comment. This blog is an excellent way for us to brainstorm ideas together and learn from one another!

So What Does It Mean To Make a Difference?

To me, making a difference happens in small ways. The simple things we do can make large ripples in the world. A simple idea like a lemonade stand has made millions for cancer research. The world needs more "good" in it. And it's the "simple good" that I'm referring to. There is a theory in science called the Chaos Theory (or butterfly effect). This theory suggests how simple things in nature can cause global effects on the environment. For example, the theory suggests how the flapping wings of a butterfly, causing a small whirl of wind, can cause an effect on a large ecosystem. This is a nice metaphor for making a difference in the world when things seem too challenging, or when we think the possible is impossible.