No lemonade stand? Country Time offers little bailouts

As summer heat descends, another type of small business is experiencing a shutdown under the pandemic: children’s lemonade stands.

To help the littlest of entrepreneurs this season, the drink brand Country Time is offering a lemonade stand bailout program.

The Country Time Bailout Relief Fund offers a chance to receive a $100 stimulus check by random selection for kids who had to close their lemonade stands due to COVID-19. The Kraft Heinz Co., as the parent business, announced the funding program on July 15.

Through Aug. 12, kids up to age 14 with parental permission can enter by registering at countrytimebailout.com. Country Time will select 1,000 winners.

Families, in entering the contest, are asked to submit an essay answer on how the child would use their “stimulus check to juice the economy” and a photo of the lemonade sign the child was going to use but can’t.

“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,” a company news release said.

“The check can offset the loss of revenue from the lemonade stand and can be saved, or better yet, spent to help invest in the local economy.”

Families entering the program will need to check emails to find out if they’ve been randomly selected to receive a bailout, which would come with a commemorative check in the mail and a prepaid gift card.

In 2018, the brand offered a similar program called Legal-Ade that helped kids nationwide pay permit fees and fines on their lemonade stands under “outdated permit laws,” the company said.

Legal-Ade helped prompt legislation in several states, including Colorado and Texas, to legalize lemonade stands by excluding them from businesses that need a permit to operate.

For more information on the current contest, go to countrytimebailout.com.