Ellington

Raha Maxwell is taking the traditional summer lemonade stand to the next level. The 10-year-old student at Adhiambo School turned his culinary talent into a full-fledged business.

"He had suggested the idea of a lemonade business last fall," said June Hardwick, Raha's mother. "We started brainstorming about different products that we could use to make a healthy, organic lemonade."

Hardwick told Raha that if he was serious about starting his own business, they would revisit the idea in the spring, when fresh, organic fruit would be in season. In May of this year, Raha and Hardwick launched Ra-ade Lemonade LLC. Raha takes orders for lemonade by the gallon and sells it by the glass at Lumkin's BBQ (182 Raymond Road) most Sundays.

"I wanted people to have something that's healthy and is good for you," Raha said.

Raha started selling lemonade at Lumpkin's through Monique Davis' Kidz Biz program. Davis and her husband own Lumpkin's, and she wanted to encourage children to experiment with entrepreneurship. Davis has also invited Raha to sell lemonade at the end of her belly-dancing classes.

Raha makes his lemonade using organic lemons and organic cane sugar. He makes flavored lemonade by adding ingredients such as lemongrass tea, ginger, strawberry and pineapple. The recipes depend on what fruits are in season at the time; Hardwick said they wanted to make watermelon lemonade, but could not find enough good, organic watermelons. Recently, they branched out and started making blueberry limeade. As the weather gets colder, they are thinking of ways to expand their menu by offering warm drinks, such as lemon tea, chai and apple cider.

Raha said he enjoys selling lemonade, but learning to run a business is also helping him get ahead. In the future, he said he might want to own a recycling business or be a paleontologist. For now, he plays soccer, basketball and baseball, and makes mostly As in school.

Lemonade costs $1 per cup or $12 per gallon, with discounts for orders of 5 gallons. Customers should place orders two days in advance. To learn more about Ra-ade Lemonade or to place an order, visit ra-ade.intuitwebsites.com.

Previous Comments

ID

164689

Comment

Oh my goodness, it's June's boy! He's growing up since he posed in a shoot with us several years back. Love it.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2011-08-23T12:31:44-06:00