photo by: Contributed

From left to right, Jenny Lichte, Lori Lee and Meredith Marshall — Foster Village Lawrence's founders — are pictured.

If the idea of a lemonade stand is an age-old tactic for raising funds, surely an entire city full of lemonade stands will work even better. A local nonprofit who works to support foster children and their caregivers are betting so.

Foster Village – an organization working to support foster caregivers and advocates for progress to the foster care system – is aiming to raise $15,000 in support of northeast Kansas children and families experiencing foster care by distributing lemonade stand kits for families to use to create their own lemonade stands across the city. Money raised from the stands during the month of July will go to Foster Village’s fundraising campaign.

The funding will enable Foster Village to provide holistic support services, including childcare, clothing, furniture, necessities, emotional support, mentorship and more.

This year, Foster Village Lawrence, one of 10 Foster Village chapters in the country, will have their second lemonade themed campaign, “Growing the Village is Sweet,” where for the entire month of July families, businesses, churches and the community will come together to raise funds for families in crisis. The kickoff for the local campaign is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 725 N 2nd Street, Suite M where families can pick up lemonade stand kits to set up their own lemonade stands.

People can reserve a lemonade stand kit on their website for a $20-30 donation. The kit comes with lemonade mix, banner, sidewalk chalk, stickers, a tip sheet about how to talk about foster care and two Foster Village T-shirts. Members of the community can host a lemonade stand any date of July.

Jenny Lichte, co-founder of the Lawrence chapter, said this not only gives kids the tools to create a successful lemonade stand, but gives families the opportunity to educate others about foster care.

“The more people that are aware that Foster Village exists in our area, the more we can help foster families do what they need to do,” Lichte said.

There are other ways the public can get involved with this campaign, including by going to local businesses that are offering special lemon-themed products during the month. Customers have bought products in the past, like lemonade cookies, lemon bath bombs, lemonade seltzer, a “Village” veggie pizza, and more.

The businesses participating in this year’s campaign are Blade & Timber Axe Throwing, Chick-fil-A, Circle Coffee Co., Culinaria, Jefferson’s Restaurant, Joylight Coffee Roasters, Virtue & Vitality, Sourdough By Stefanie, Gracefully Gifting and Liesel Anne Studios.

Lichte said there are almost 6,000 children in the foster care system in Kansas in any given month, and that’s a lot of kids.

“The child welfare system is fairly good at taking children out of an unsafe situation and putting them in a safer situation,” Lichte said. “But they just don’t have the manpower. It takes a village to support these families and children in care, and it really takes all of us.”

As the Journal-World reported, people can get involved in several other programs with Foster Village throughout the year. The organization hosts regular networking events that include support groups for foster moms and dads to meet and spend time together. Foster Village Lawrence also puts together “welcome packs” for new foster families, which are care packages with the basic necessities that a family may not have on hand. Additionally, people are welcome to donate on their website.

The kickoff on Saturday is a great way to get introduced to the Foster Village team and buy a lemonade stand kit if not already reserved, Lichte said. Anyone who can’t make it to a lemonade stand can buy a virtual cup of lemonade through the organization’s website, fostervillagelawrence.org

“It can be a struggle to do our best for kids who come from hard places, and it really does take a whole community,” Lichte said. “So you know, make lemons into lemonade.”