3-year-old sells lemonade ‘by the gallon’ to donate diapers and bottles to moms in need

Kamilah Newton
Updated

Ava Lewis may just be three years old — but the toddler from Durham, North Carolina is already making a huge impact.

Since April, Ava has been running a lemonade stand outside her mother’s hair salon and using the proceeds to buy necessities for babies in need. Originally selling only cups of the be, Ava’s stand has gotten so much attention that she now offers the drink by the gallon.

Ava’s mother Maggie Lewis, who is also a local businesswoman, told ABC that business is booming so much that even the “house smells like lemonade.” Lewis says the idea to start a lemonade stand came from Ava’s sweet and simple request to ”help babies.” So earlier this summer, Ava, her mother and grandmother worked together to perfect a lemonade recipe, build the stand and then set up shop. The tiny purple and yellow structure sits in front of Lewis’ hair salon, the Lather Lounge, which has been a part of the community for over a decade.

According to local news, when the community heard where the money from Ava’s lemonade was going, customers came pouring in. “One lady jumped out the car and said, ‘I wanna get some gallons,’” Lewis told ABC11.

Ava’s Lemonade has been raking in so much success that this past Monday she exceeded her goal and was able to donate baby wipes and diapers to Durham Rescue Mission’s Good Samaritan Inn — a transitional housing facility for local women and children that offers food, clothes, counseling, vocational training, education and employment assistance.

The facility’s director, Gail Mills told ABC11, “It just means the world to us to see a young person, 3-years-old, that is thinking about others.”

The “Lemonade Baby,” as her mother calls her, is hosting a “Sip & Read” event this Sunday with Therese Daye, a North Carolina children’s book author.

Ava, similarly to Nigel and Shane of 2 Bros in the Kitchen, is amongst the growing trend of young entrepreneurs. In response to this, New York politicians are currently crafting a bill that would allow children to run business stands without a permit. As it stands, the permit is legally required to run a “temporary food establishment, but if passed, the new law would immediately exempt children 16 and under from paying permit fees.

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