media

Veteran Lemonade Stand operators and Featured Entrepreneurs Emma and Sydnee Foley were recently recognized as Fire Citizens of the Year in recognition of extraordinary support and dedication to the Fortuna Fire Department.

“We thought it would be fun to start our own business and earn money we could spend on anything we wanted,” the girls explained. “We always donate some money, save some money for college, and spend some money. We keep doing our lemonade stand because it is fun and we can make money for the fire department.”

Over the years the young entrepreneurs have donated about $500 to the Fortuna Volunteer Fire Department Company 2 Santa’s Sleigh program. “We donate by using our money to purchase coats and sweatshirts for the kids in the program,” they said.

The girls became aware of the Santa’s Sleigh program through their fire fighter father and were inspired to help local kids in need. The community response has been inspiring, with regular customers, including fireman, returning each year to buy lemonade.

“It has been a good experience,” they observed. “There are really nice people that come to our stand and like to donate to our cause. At first we were shy, but now we are comfortable with our customers. We will have a stand this year for Humboldt Lemonade Day. We also sell Firehouse Lemonade during the Strongs Creek Plaza Spring Extravaganza and Fortuna Apple Harvest.”

Emma and Sydnee’s stand will be located in front of their mom’s shop, Glamorous Boutique, in Strongs Creek Plaza, Fortuna. “We always keep the stand in the same place so the firemen and other customers know where to come for delicious lemonade,” they said.