After seeing a photo of two enslaved boys her age—and learning that "slavery did not end with Abraham Lincoln"—then 8-year-old Vivienne Harr decided to help. She said: “Compassion is not compassion without action.” So, since children have done since time immemorial, she went with “the only business experience I had”: a lemonade stand. But, little Vivienne had a big vision. She wanted to raise $100,000. She "made a stand" at her lemonade stand for 365 days straight, rain or shine, to “end child slavery.” The world stood with her.
On day #52, New York Times, Pulitzer prize-winning columnist Nicholas Kristof retweeted Vivienne, and her moment became a movement. The New York Times, Bloomberg TV, The BBC World News, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, The New York Daily News, The Huffington Post, FOX, MSNBC, Yahoo News, MSN, AOL, Food & Wine, Town & Country, O Magazine, Time for Kids, Parenting, Real Simple—and media outlets across the country and around the world from Australia to Brazil to France to Hong Kong—have covered Vivienne's story and the Make a Stand movement.
On day #173, Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomed Vivienne to Times Square to sell her famous lemonade. It was there that she reached her goal—donating $101,320 to Not For Sale, a leading anti-slavery organization. When her parents said: “You did it, honey. You’re done,” Vivienne said: “Is child slavery done?" They shook their heads. "Then, I am not done.”
Vivienne continued her daily stand for a full 365 days, at which point she decided to bottle her organic, Fair Trade “lemon-aid”—becoming the first child in American history to bottle her lemonade-stand lemonade. She and her team raised over $1 million to start Make a Stand, Inc. - one of the first Certified B Corps in the world. Five-percent of all sales go to leading organizations that do the most documented work in eradicating child slavery in the U.S. and around the world. (While 5% may sound small, it's not. That's because it's 5% of gross revenues, not merely 5% of profits. If all U.S. companies gave 5% of all revenues, not just profits, that would be roughly $1 trillion dollars...every year.)
Vivienne has won numerous awards for her work, including the George H.W. Bush “Point of Light Award” and the “Crowdfunding Campaign of 2012.” Town & Country recognized Vivienne one of the "50 Most Influential Philanthropists in America” along with Leonado Dicaprio, Michael Bloomberg and Laurene Jobs. She is the youngest to make the list—by 10 years. Vivienne is also an honorary member of the World Affairs Council after having introduced Twitter CEO Dick Costolo at his award dinner. As of December 5, 2013, Vivienne Harr is the youngest-ever featured speaker at a Tedx Talk.
Make a Stand became a new way of doing business: A for-profit B-Corporation that shares the vision of its founder: "a world where all 18 million children are free and safe."
Vivienne Harr just turned 10.
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