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As we start to open registration for Lemonade Day 2012, I asked why some of our team members are involved and what are some of their most memorable Lemonade Day moments. This is a guest post from Houston’s Executive Director, JC Perez.

For the past 3 years I have worked with the Tejano Center of Houston engaging their families, staff, and youth to register and participate in Lemonade Day. Two years ago I was speaking to the teachers, students, and parents explaining how the program works and from the corner of my eye I saw a gentleman standing in the corner looking intrigued on what I was saying. He never came up to our Lemonade booth to register his little girl and at the end of the lunch period I walked over and introduced myself to him and asked him why he had not come up to our booth and participate?

I found out he wanted to sign up his daughter, but he was embarrassed to ask me if he could also go through the entrepreneurial lessons in our educational workbooks. I asked him what kind of work he did and he told me he “cut peoples’ grass”.

I signed his daughter up for Lemonade Day and gave him a copy of our Spanish caring adult guide and asked him to carefully follow the information and lessons with his daughter. The following year when I returned to work with the students, teachers, and parents this gentleman was back and this time he was the first one to run up to our booth and show me his business cards, his company polo shirt with a professional logo he had created, and he also had with him two of his Landscaping business employees that wanted to sign up their kids for Lemonade Day.

He told me in Spanish- “Señor JC, thank you so much for giving me this material because I followed the lessons and, not only did I teach my daughter, but I also learned basic elements of running a business. Lemonade Day is just not for kids”.

His words will always stay in my mind as we prepare for another successful Lemonade Day in Houston and across the country.

photographer: Elaine Mesker-Garcia/EMG Images