At 10 years old, Keith Boyd personifies the meaning of “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
A native to Tulsa, Okla., Boyd can’t talk or stand. He communicates with his eyes via a device called a Tobii.
Still, Boyd’s not only persevered through his cerebral palsy hardships, but he’s channeled them into being the CEO of a more than $100,000 company: Keith’s Ice Cold Lemonade Stand.
And this summer Tulsa-based LawnAmerica became a business partner, putting $22,000 toward the organization through its own cash and fundraised donations.
Keith’s Ice Cold Lemonade Stand raises money through selling lemonade on a donation basis to benefit the Little Light House (LLH), of which Boyd is a graduate. LLH is a tuition-free school in Tulsa for children up to age 6 with special needs. It’s in the midst of planning an expansion, relying in part on funding from profits from Keith’s Ice Cold Lemonade Stand.
“We have supported LLH for as long as I can remember,” said Brad Johnson, president of LawnAmerica, adding a former employee had a child go through the school. “So we were all over it.”
Every Wednesday for 10 weeks this summer, June 18 to Aug. 20, LawnAmerica, along with nine other local businesses, popped up lemonade stands around town from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., selling Chick-fil-A-donated lemonade.
The company fronted $10,000 to sponsor the stand for the summer and raked in an additional $12,000 in lemonade sales, surpassing the sales of all other stands around town.
“Our guys were much more aggressive in asking for donations,” Johnson said. LawnAmerica employees would wander into the street and knock on car windows, he said. Four to six employees worked the stand at a time.
“Our guys really enjoyed it,” Johnson added. “It was a big commitment on our part, too. We were really busy this summer.”
Backing LLH and Keith’s Ice Cold Lemonade Stand just skims the surface of LawnAmerica’s charitable giving in Tulsa, though. Among other projects, it has done free landscaping for inner city schools and challenged apartment complexes, plus it hangs Christmas lights for free at LLH. It’s all a part of a company objective to give 3 percent of its gross revenue back to the community in the form of cash donations or donated services and goods. Johnson said the company has kept to that promise just about every year.
“It’s just the right thing to do,” he said. “We’ve been in the community for 16 years.”
In total, Keith’s Ice Cold Lemonade Stand raised around $120,000 by the end of the summer. Though Boyd’s goal was to raise $250,000, Johnson brought to light, “That’s money that otherwise wouldn’t have been there.”
As for the future of LawnAmerica’s involvement with Keith’s Ice Cold Lemonade Stand, it might not have the opportunity to sell lemonade again next summer. Boyd is considering switching to a national distribution model for his business, selling, boxing and shipping lemonade nationwide, Johnson said.
“I was proud of our staff selflessly donating their time during hot workdays this summer toward this cause,” Johnson said. “It’s something that’s a little different than treating lawns day in and day out.”
Photo: LawnAmerica
