We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chelsea a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chelsea , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I lost my home in the Tubb’s Fire in 2017. It was a catastrophic fire that affected our entire community, and left thousands of people with nothing. But that fire also showed me how strong our community is when we all come together. Our fire seasons had been escalating each year, and continued to do so after the Tubb’s Fire. Emergency disaster assistance became a dire need in our communities, and having been through that need myself, I wanted to do what I could to help fill that gap. Shannon Parkhurst and I connected in a local mom group on Facebook when I was buying a baby toy from her. We had an immediate connection and a close friendship formed. We both had a passion to help others, and a desire to make a difference. It didn’t take much discussion for us both to agree that we wanted to help victims of wildfires, and so we spent many, many months researching, organizing, and making moves to start the Lemon Aide Project, a 501c3 Nonprofit Organization. We are constantly assessing the needs of our communities and changing and adopting new programs to meet those needs. While victims of wildfire are still a big focus of ours, some of our recent endeavors include providing holiday meals for families in need, as well as our Narcan host box program.

Chelsea , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I think that my response to the previous question answered the questions here about what pushed us in the direction of starting a nonprofit organization, as well as what our focuses are right now. Our current programs/ areas of focus are Natural Disaster emergency assistance, Holiday meal donations, Narcan Host Box program, and our “Adopt a Family” program where you can provide gifts and essentials to a family in need for Christmas. We have the passion and desire to help others. Outside of the nonprofit, I am also an RN, so the passion to help others runs deep in my veins. It’s what I spend my life doing, and it’s what I love. Shannon, the CEO and President of Lemon Aide Project, has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know, and her work ethic and drive are just above and beyond. We want our communities to know that they are not alone. We are here for them when they need it most.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Being present and involved within our communities has really helped us to gain a positive reputation and get our name out there. We host fundraising events like “dine and donates” and silent auctions at local businesses. We get booths and tables at whatever fairs and events that we can. We want them to see our faces. We want them to see US and who we are. We don’t want to be a faceless organization. We want it to feel personal. We want it to BE personal.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Shannon Parkhurst and I met in mid-2019. We first met online in a local mom Facebook group, and then we met in person when she came to my house to drop off a baby toy that I had bought from her. We hit it off right away and an instant friendship formed. We both had a passion to help others, and a desire to make a difference. It didn’t take much discussion for us to both agree that we wanted to help victims of wildfire, and so we spent many, many months researching, organizing, and making moves to start the Lemon Aide Project, a 501c3 Nonprofit Organization. Shannon has a heart of gold, and is one of the most motivated and driven people I’ve ever met.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lemonaideproject.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lemon_aide_project_?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LemonAideProject?mibextid=wwXIfr&mibextid=wwXIfr