July 14, 2001 – The cameras nearly outnumbered the kids at a well-publicized Kids-N-Business event Saturday morning at Emille Griffith Park.
Young entrepreneurs split their time between a workshop on the basketball court and vending tables where they sold everything from used books and videos to specially designed hair ribbons.
Kandace Mitchell, 9, displayed wooden picture frames she had decorated with rice, ribbon and wood chips. Price: $10.
Explaining the source of her raw materials, she said, "My dad's always working with wood, so he put some time into making chips." Other items were simply on hand at home.
Christopher Raimer, owner of Perry Video Sales, said he was doing a brisk business in used video sales. He didn't have to invest hard cash into his retail goods but, he said, "I invested some time and some creativity."
At age 4, Melanie Hernandez Santiago was billed as the youngest participant. She was helping big brother Neftali, 7, who was selling small toys.
"Sometimes we buy them in Kmart. Sometimes our grandparents buy them in Puerto Rico, and some are from home," he said.
His mother, who works in the summer program of Kids-N-Business teaching art and Spanish, said she advanced between $60 and $70 for the toys.
"They already paid me half" back, she said. "First they pay their debts" and then the rest is profit.
Tanya Ward Benjamin said her son, Rahim, took a long time to decide what to sell. He finally came up with a winning idea: Rahim's Homework Hut. Buying pencils, paper and other materials in bulk, he repackaged them into individual homework kits, and as a bonus included with each kit a set of homework tips.
He said he brought five or six kits to the sale and by noon he was sold out.
Brittiany Sooklal, 6, offered an unusual combination on her table: $5 manicures and slices of cake. By late morning, she said she had sold some of both – the sweets seemed to be the more popular item. Reaching into a bag under the table, she pulled out an empty cake pan with the remains of chocolate frosting still very much in evidence.
"My chocolate cake is gone," she beamed. "Look what they did to it."
Program director Janielle Harris said this is its second year. About 15 youngsters turned out to sell their wares Saturday, with more participating in the sports workshop and hanging around to shop. About 100 youth are enrolled in Kids-N-Business. Some take part in the summer program, some in after-school courses and some in both.
