Police in Texas shut down a lemonade stand run by two little girls this week because of state health and safety laws.
Andria Green, eight, told her local news station that she and her sister Zoe, seven, were selling lemonade near their home to raise money so that they could take their dad to a nearby water park for father’s day. They needed to raise $105.
“The girls are always into making their own money,” their mother, Sandi Evans, told KLTV.
At a curbside stand, the girls hawked lemonade at 50 cents a cup and also sold kettle corn for a dollar. Both products could be purchased together for a dollar.
The pint-sized Warren Buffetts had raised $25 before the police intervened.
Police dashcam footage shows an officer asking Evans whether she has a permit for her daughters to sell lemonade. She explains that she did not know certification – known as a “Peddler’s Permit” – was required.
“Really?” Evans says. “For a lemonade stand? I had no clue.”
“Yes ma’am,” the officer replies.
A permit was quickly secured at a local government office, which waived the $150 fee.
But the city’s health department further delayed the children’s capitalist ambitions, saying that agency officials had to investigate the kitchen where the lemonade is prepared to issue a health permit.
Incidents of police shutting down lemonade stands have been documented recently in Georgia, Maryland and Iowa.
The girls, however, have found a route around the problem and on Saturday will be giving away lemonade from their yard. “Donations will be accepted.”
