Country Time to give $100 to children who can’t run lemonade stands this year

The lemonade brand Country Time has launched the “Littlest Bailout” program to give $100 to kids who are missing out on a summer classic — setting up a lemonade stand — because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

“It’s lemonade stand season, but this year, things are looking dry, and those small business bailouts are going to not-so-small corporations – steakhouses, sports teams, oil companies? Big guys muscling little guys out of the way. That doesn’t seem right,” the company said in an ad shared Friday. 

“But now, the smallest of small businesses are about to get some help,” the ad continues, explaining that the program offers “stimulus checks to help kids preserve the values of lemonade stands, honest work and entrepreneurship while putting a little juice back into the economy,” the ad said. 

Kids under the age of 14, with the help of a parent, can submit how they will “use some of their stimulus check to juice the economy” on the lemonade brand’s website, in addition to a photo of their stand.

Country Time will accept applications through Aug. 12. A thousand total winners will be chosen at random.  

“When life gives you social distancing, make lemonade,” the ad released Friday encourages kids. 

“Due to social distancing guidelines, lemonade stands aren’t what they used to be, and we want to help kids foster their entrepreneurial spirit by offering a small relief to those who can’t operate their lemonade stands this summer,” Andrew Deckert of Country Time said in a statement.

This is not the first time the lemonade company has stepped in to save stands across the country. In 2018, Country Time pledged to help kids cover the costs of city permits if their stands were shut down in a program dubbed “Legal-Ade.” The brand promised to reimburse a child or family up to $300 if their stand was ticketed or closed for not having permits or licenses.