Press & Media

YOUTH EMPOWERED TO GIVE BACK TO THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITIES THROUGH SUNKIST'S "TAKE A STAND" INITIATIVE

SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. (May 1, 2005) – Responding to growing interest from young people across the country to get involved in their communities and raise money for worthy causes, Sunkist Growers announces the return of its popular Take A Stand program. For a limited time, Sunkist will provide complimentary lemonade stands and organization tools online to help kids eager to literally "take a stand" and raise money for charity through an old-fashioned lemonade sale.

Last year was the first summer that Sunkist offered free lemonade stands to children who wanted to give back to their communities. An overwhelming 500+ young people responded to the call to action within minutes of the program start, demonstrating just how many kids care about their local communities and the people in them.

"Last year's success inspired us to bring the program back," said Robert Verloop, vice president of marketing, Sunkist Growers. "Sunkist encourages even more children this year to show us what is near to their heart and donate in a unique and fun way."

Beginning May 1, kids ages 7 to 12 can register at www.sunkist.com and submit their "Take a Stand" pledge, explaining how they plan to operate their lemonade stand and for what charity they will be raising money. The first 1000 kids who sign up online will receive a free, limited edition Sunkist Summer Fun Lemonade Kit complete with the tools they'll need to be successful: a specially-designed stand, a hand juicer, peeler, faucet, and a ‘how to' brochure and recipe booklet.

Participants are encouraged to be creative and follow their heart when picking a charity. Some of the most emotional stories from the summer of 2004 included local causes that had personal meaning:

• Paul Jensen, 7, of Colorado Springs, Colo., wanted a special way to help people in his community after seeing his mom donate food to the needy. Paul donated all of the money from his lemonade stand to Marian House Soup Kitchen.
  
• Ryan Graham, 9, of Birmingham, Ala., wanted to help blind people "travel safely and independently" and donated 100% of his earnings to Leader Dogs for the Blind.
  
• Christian Smith, 7, of Missouri City, Tex., gave all the profits from his Sunkist stand to Star of Hope, a local resource for the homeless. Christian was inspired to raise money after seeing his mom volunteer at the shelter as a teacher.
  
  

As the summer progresses, kids will be encouraged to revisit the Web site and send in success stories of money raised for their charity and pictures showcasing their creativity with their lemonade stand. Selected stories will be highlighted on the Sunkist site at the conclusion of the program.

For more information on how participate in the Sunkist Take A Stand program, visit www.sunkist.com.

About Sunkist
As one of the world's oldest and largest citrus marketing cooperatives, Sunkist Growers is owned by more than 6,000 citrus growers in California and Arizona, most of whom are small family farmers, with approximately 2,000 of those growers producing lemons. For more information about Sunkist, visit www.sunkist.com. Sunkist is a registered trademark of ©2008 Sunkist Growers, Inc. All Rights Reserved.