GUSTINE — What started as a summer boredom buster has blossomed into a small business with a big heart for Fatima Blanco, a fourth-grade student at Gustine Elementary.
Fatima opened a lemonade stand outside her family’s Jensen Avenue home just before the Fourth of July, using lemons picked from her grandparents’ trees. Inspired by lemonade stands she’d seen in books, she decided to launch her own—and quickly found herself with regular customers, a growing menu, and a mission to give back.
“When we went with my grandparents, they have like two big lemon trees, and I always pick like tons of lemons,” Fatima said. “One day I was bored and because I’ve seen a lot of lemonade stands in books, well, I thought, why can’t I make a lemonade stand on my own? And then we just added on to the idea.”…