Nine year old Joshua Smith is on a mission to help save his home city of Detroit by selling lemonade, punch, popcorn, and anything else tasty he can think of for around $1.50—with a goal to help with Detroit’s current financial woes, and to hopefully see a park erected in his neighborhood soon.

So far Joshua earned by the end of his first week, $3,340, leading him to receive an award from the Detroit City Council. He also earned a $2,000 scholarship for college from the Rosa Parks Scholarship Foundation.

Read more about Joshua and his new entrepreneurial endeavor here

This should be inspiration for other aspiring entrepreneurs—youth and adults. It also highlights the power of developing an idea into a monetized reality, as encouraged and taught through Operation HOPE’s HOPE Business In A Box (HBIAB) Initiative powered by the Gallup-HOPE Index.

The power of an idea— Joshua Smith and other positive youth entrepreneurs show and prove that our country can and will rebound from our economic setback, and thrive in the global economy as we did in the past—and our youth can and will successfully compete with other nations.

Go Joshua!!!

Copyright 2012. Natasha L. Foreman. All Rights Reserved.