Today in the New York Times there was an article about Lemonade Stands and how they are not legal in much of the country. Numerous lemonade stand shut downs were included in the article, including the Colorado link, which is my story. I would love to create better and safer opportunities for our kids surrounding entrepreneurship. Who is with me?

New York Today: Are Lemonade Stands Allowed?

Lemonade, anyone?CreditChristopher Gregory for The New York Times

By Aaron Robertson and Alexandra S. Levine

July 6, 2018

Updated, 11:00 a.m.

Good morning on this humid Friday.

One refreshing antidote to the stifling heat: lemonade.

But lemonade stands — a summertime staple for American children — are not as easy to find in the city as they are in the suburbs or at the beach.

Which got us wondering: Are they even allowed here?

Though most young entrepreneurs don’t encounter problems setting up folding tables and selling carafes of freshly squeezed lemonade to thirsty (read: supportive or nostalgic) passers-by, it isn’t unheard-of for unsuspecting children to have their stands shut down because of complaints from neighbors or businesses. Even a stand put up by Jerry Seinfeld’s family in East Hampton was shuttered.

Families without proper vending or health permits have had to close stands in Oregon, Texas, California and Colorado.

In the city, operators of pop-up lemonade stands are required to obtain a Temporary Food Service Establishment permit, according to Carolina Rodríguez, a spokeswoman from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. But city officials don’t usually make a big deal of it, she added.

Permit or not, many New Yorkers are using the stands to do good in the community.

Kathy Price, a mother in Brooklyn, and her two young children plan to give their lemonade stand revenue to Stand for Kids, which uses proceeds from stands to support 14 groups working to keep immigrant children with their families.

The “Lemonaid” program at the Robin Hood Foundation, an anti-poverty organization based in Lower Manhattan, encourages its vendors to offer lemonade for free and request donations, as does Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a nonprofit that promotes cancer research.

Dina Bean has run a booth near Central Park with her children, Anabelle and Daniel, in support of Alex’s Lemonade Stand for the last eight summers. Only once have they encountered an angry retailer who threatened to call the city.

“The ironic part is that we probably bring so many people there because people always come to check out what’s going on,” Ms. Bean said. Tensions eased once the Bean family explained that they were fund-raising for a pediatric cancer charity. “We’ve never really had anyone complain except for that one guy, but this year they were super nice.”

Yes, obtaining the proper permit will give you the legal assurance you need to set up your booth, but it may mean losing some of that 1950s charm of setting up a makeshift stand on a whim.

If you do get fined for having a stand this summer, you could apply for financial assistance: Country Time Legal-Ade, a new initiative sponsored by the Kraft Heinz Company, has allocated $60,000 to help kids around the country pay for stand-related fines.

Cheers to that.