This 8-year-old’s lemonade stand donates part of proceeds to support those experiencing homelessness

Among the muraled shops and heavy traffic on Artesia Boulevard in North Long Beach stands 8-year-old Landen Smith next to a fresh batch of lemonade.

He started his lemonade stand on Juneteenth with a philanthropic goal—using part of the proceeds to help provide hand sanitizer, wipes and other essentials to those experiencing homelessness. 

“I wanted to be a superhero and help the homeless,” Smith said.

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According to the 2020 Point-in-Time Homeless Count, the City of Long Beach identified 2,034 people experiencing homelessness in January 2020—a 7% increase from the previous year.

The 2020 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count identified 66,436 people experiencing homelessness—a 12.7% increase from the previous year’s count.

Sympathetic to the cause, Landen’s grandmother began donating bags full of essential items such as water and soap to support those experiencing homelessness and became the inspiration behind his philanthropy. 

Intent on doubling his grandmother’s donations, part of Landen’s proceeds have allowed them to give out 150 bags of essentials a month.

“I’m very proud and I’m excited because it was all his idea,” said Landen’s mother Porche Smith.

The idea flourished last year while Landen watched television and saw that lemonade stands garnered considerable revenue.

“My grandmother called me and said ‘you know, Landen wants to get involved with feeding the homeless because he’s a hero and he wants to be a superhero,’” Porche recalled. 

However, the Safer at Home order that was triggered in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic delayed Landen’s plans.

This summer, however, Landen sells his popular fresh lemonade from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays with his mother by his side. 

“I just have his back,” Porche said. “I let him know ‘whatever you want to do, I’m here to support.’”

Dreaming up ideas on how to expand his small business, Landen modeled his lemonade stand after Hot Dog On a Stick, but he wants it “to be bigger.”

Landen’s menu is extensive—he offers original lemonade, with the option to add strawberries or blueberries and on occasion the in-demand mango flavor. His stand also offers corn, flavored pickles (chamoy and tajin), hot links, hot dogs and chips.

The lemonade flavors are made from scratch by slow-cooking raspberries and peaches. Behind the scenes, Porche teaches Landen the process.

The original lemonade is made out of lemons, sugar and spring water—a combination that pairs well with Southern California heat waves. 

On Saturday, July 17, Landen took to Instagram to announce that the lemonade had sold out in the first few hours. The same happened at his Santa Fe Springs pop-up on July 3.

Landen hasn’t just been in demand in his own neighborhood. He has been invited to do several pop-ups in the Crenshaw District and Chino.

“We’ve been getting a lot of support and I would like to thank everyone who’s been giving us support,” Porche said. “I hope everybody comes out and tries it.” 

Landen’s Lemonade will be available Saturday and Sunday at 1082 Artesia Blvd. in Long Beach until mid-August. For more information, follow @landenlemonade8 on Instagram.