Image from twitter.com/vivienneharr
8-year-old Vivienne Harr, from California, is a little girl on a mission. Her lemonade stand has earned a staggering amount of $30,000, but don’t come to the conclusion that she’s selling the best lemonade in the world. Harr is raising money for a non-profit organization called Not for Sale, which fights to end human trafficking and slavery.
“Make a Stand! Lemonade: The Sweet Taste of Freedom”, these are the words that draw people towards Harr’s special lemonade stand. She began by charging $2 per cup, but then decided to charge nothing for the beverage. She instead left the price up to the customer. The Marin Independent Journal quotes Vivienne’s father as saying, “We’re betting on the goodness of people, and we found that the average price went up $18 when we made it free. We said, ‘Pay what’s in your heart’.”
Through social media Harr has made her cause an even bigger success. She can be found at @vivienneharr on Twitter and uses the hashtag #MAKEASTAND to raise awareness. She has also created a website, makeastandlemonade.com. This leads to a Fundly.com donation site, where anyone interested will have the opportunity to support Harr’s mission.
While a great deal of the money has come through the website, Vivienne has vowed to continue working her lemonade stand until she reaches her goal of $150,000. Harr has even begun working with companies to create a bottled version of her lemonade, which is made using only fair trade ingredients. The bottled “#MAKEASTAND Lemonade” will be free of charge, in order to continue the theme of Harr’s “not for sale” mission, but customers will be encouraged to donate through the website.
