By Hannah Lester
hlester@
opelikaobserver.com

Isaac Jones wanted a dirt bike. As his mother, Alexis Meniefield, said, he is “mister need for speed”. But a dirt bike wasn’t exactly in the budget.

So, Meniefield said she offered 7-year-old Jones an opportunity. He could work for his dirt bike by selling lemonade.

“‘We’re in the middle of a pandemic,’” Meniefield said she told Isaac. “‘Unfortunately, I can’t just go buy you a dirt bike, but would you like to sell lemonade?’ And he said yes. So we started in June.”

Isaac and his mother, Alexis Meniefield

By the second weekend of selling lemonade, Meniefield said that it only took a half hour before the two had sold out of lemonade.

Since it was summer, and Jones had no school, they two got to work early every morning and sold lemonade each day for thirsty passerby’s.

“It was like a summer job for him,” she said. “We would wake up about 5:30 and we would start working. We do everything by hand. It’s all freshly squeezed.”

The only goal in mind was to earn approximately $700 so Jones could buy a dirt bike — neither foresaw Jones’ lemonade becoming such a big hit in the county that people were clamoring for it.

“Around the second week, through social media, social media took it way further than what we expected,” Meniefield said. “People were stopping by like, ‘hey we just saw the post on Facebook and we just wanted to stop by and support.’ I think it got so big because he’s a kid.”

Jones’ lemonade was a hit. For a while, it was even stocked as a beverage for a local restaurant.

On June 2, Isaac’s Handmade Lemonade was created on Facebook. Each day, different flavors were offered, like strawberry, pineapple, blackberry, kiwi, lemonade punch and regular.

Jones said his favorites are pink lemonade and mango lemonade.

Jones even got the chance to meet Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller and share a glass of lemonade.

“He got to do some of the stuff I never had the opportunity to do at seven,” Meniefield said. “At seven, he’s something.”

Now, school is back in session and Jones can’t make lemonade every day. Meniefield said their next goal for Isaac’s Handmade Lemonade is to purchase a food truck, but there is no timeline for that idea right now.

Selling lemonade all summer helped Jones learn a lot of skills, Meniefield said.

“Teaching him, first teamwork and team building skills, teaching him respect, teaching him business, teaching him money and the fact that he was literally the happiest kid, it taught me a lot about Isaac,” she said.

Jones said he was able to practice his math skills, which he said he enjoys in school.

“[I learned] how to count,” he said, by counting lemons.

PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED TO THE OPELIKA OBSERVER

Jones not only had the support of the community behind him, but the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lee County has supported Isaac as well.

The club shared Jones’ story on their Facebook:

“Meet Isaac — Isaac is not only a Club Member but the business owner of Isaac’s Lemonade! Isaac and his mother joined us at our Board of Director’s meeting yesterday to share the impact that the Club has had on their life and his business! Providing a safe environment where young people, like Issac, are engaged and challenged to build and practice their essential skills is where Clubs fill a critical need. When every young person has access to quality out-of-school opportunities that intentionally support their workforce readiness, they are primed for great futures. By offering career exploration, skill development and opportunities to apply skills through real-life experiences, Clubs are helping to develop today’s youth into tomorrow’s scientists, doctors, nurses, civic leaders, teachers, engineers, programmers, entrepreneurs and the inventors of jobs and workplaces that we can’t yet imagine. Stay tuned for more information on how our organization plans to $upport Isaac’s dream and how you can help invest in his great future! ($IsaacsLemonade14).”

And in good news, Jones did eventually earn the money for his dirt bike too.

“I wanted a dirt bike because they’re super cool,” he said.

Check back in with Jones and Meniefield to see where they are with the lemonade here: www.facebook.com/IsaacsLemonade.

“He’s 7 years old and I’ve been his mom seven years, but during that process of making lemonade, it showed me who he really was,” Meniefield said. “I learned so much about him. He had some of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen him have.”

Update:

On Sept. 21, Isaac’s Homemade Lemonade announced the return of lemonae with free deliveries in a Facebook post.

“Hello Everyone! Isaac’s Handmade Lemonade is back! We are currently on doing deliveries free of charge! We have all flavors Strawberry, Mango, Regular, Very Berry Lemonade, Kiwi, BlackBerry and Peach. All gallons are 8$ and the are pre order only! Our lemonade is Handmade my son squeezes the lemons personally “It’s his business” lol! Please let us know if you’d like some of the best lemonade a 7 year old could ever make! His Cashapp is $IsaacsLemonade14 please put flavor when sending.”