Copperas Cove fifth grader named Lemonade Day Entrepreneur of the Year
Special to Leader-Press
2020 Copperas Cove Five Hills Junior Ambassador Hayley Sawyer donned her pirate hat as she danced and played her violin for customers as they enjoyed their cups of Yo-Ho Lemonade.
Sawyer and her mom built her lemonade stand this year to look like a pirate ship including a flag flying at the front of the boat, pirate music airing in the background and swords and pirate eye patches being sold to benefit Sawyer’s chosen charity, Operation Stand Down Central Texas. Saywer also created a social media page to advertise her Ocean’s Bounty Lemonade.
“My father is a retired military veteran, and my brother is active duty,” Sawyer said. “I was thinking about how the homeless veterans do not deserve to be on the streets and how I could raise more money through Lemonade Day to help them.”
In the past two years, Sawyer has raised more than $3,500 for homeless veterans and added $1400 to that amount for Operation Stand Down Central Texas. This is her fifth year to participate in the Lemonade Day program.
Sawyer was named the 2021 Fort Hood Area Lemonade Day Entrepreneur of the Year. She advances to the national contest later this summer. The Miss Five Hills Scholarship Program has produced three local entrepreneurs of the year including 2019 Five Hills Ambassador Briana Liles who captured National Lemonade Day Young Entrepreneur of the Year and 2020 Five Hills Ambassador Kaydence Robert who was first runner-up in the national contest last year.
This was the first year for 2021 Five Hills Junior Ambassador Maddox Tobias to participate in Lemonade Day. His stand, Dr. Seuss on the Loose Lemonade, captured the Best Stand Award.
“I worked hard to make my stand fun and have cool stuff like drinks, snacks, and cups and shirts with names that rhymed like Dr. Seuss,” the 5-year-old said. “I was proud of how it turned out and I love my stand and I am very happy everyone liked it so much too.”
2021 Miniature Mister Five Hills Edward Sanchez won the third place Best Stand Award with his welcoming stand complete with a tablecloth of lemons.
2021 Junior Miss Five Hills De’Ziyah Gilbert and 2021 Preteen Miss Five Hills Dorianna Gilbert hosted their stand together to benefit their chosen causes, respectively Blessings in a Backpack to provide weekend meals to homeless students and Anti-Bullying Awareness. The sisters’
bright red stand captured the award for being the public’s favorite and garnering the most votes in a social media contest.
“I was shocked that we had so many supporters that loved us enough to like our lemonade stand,” De’Ziyah Gilbert, 8, said. “We put in a lot of work making lemonade and cupcakes.”
“It was fun for me and my sister because usually we don’t compete in (social media contest), but our first time trying resulted in a win,” Dorianna Gilbert, 11, said. “We raised over $1,400 and were blessed to have supporters match what we made so we could reinvest in our community.”