Every Friday without fail, David Rocha walks a few blocks to the neighborhood corner store and picks up a lottery ticket. Then on Sundays he flips through the real estate section of the paper.

"We can't make money fast enough," he says.

What Rocha wants to do is purchase a new building for his school. Rocha has Down Syndrome, but the 23-year-old understands that there are many more like him that need a place where they can continue learning. With the aid of friends at the Down Syndrome Association of Houston (DOAH), Rocha is raising money by putting up a stand for the Lemonade Day, set for Sunday throughout the city of Houston.

More than a reason to make the zesty beverage, Lemonade Day offers participants a comprehensive course of study that touches on the many facets of managing a successful business like budgeting, setting goals, advertising, purchasing, costing and accounting. But just as important as making a profit is the responsibility of what to do with it.

That's the basis for Lemonade Day's three money principles: Save some, spend some and share some. As such, a group of participants, including Rocha, is taking these tenets to heart to affect change in their own communities.

A capital campaign for Down Syndrome Association of Houston

DOAH is bursting at the seams: The center is over capacity with a waiting list of more than 75.

Through a three-day per week education program, Gymboree for babies, music therapy, a summer enrichment class, bingo, socials for adults and a support system for families, the northwest Houston school serves more than 1,200 families. But that's just not enough.

A new building could expand DOAH's reach and fulfill its plan to become an immersive resource center for 250 more.

"David knows how essential his school is for his own development," Rosa Rocha, David's mother, says. "After he graduated high school, David realized he was forgetting things he had learned and mastered. People with Down Syndrome have to be challenged continuously to retain skills needed for good healthy living."

Rosa Rocha is the volunteer chair of a $2 million capital campaign for a new home for DOAH, but the idea to help fundraise came from the students.

For Krista Bearden, a 23-year-old Crosby resident receiving therapy from DOAH, it was important to support the efforts as well. "I am learning how to make money, count money — we have been practicing with paper money and plastic dolls," she says.

Food retailer Kroger has stepped up to the plate with a money challenge: The grocer will match dollar for dollar up to $3,000 of the profits made by DOAH's lemonade stands, which will be set up at 10 Kroger locations around Houston.

Florida bound: Boys and Girls Country

The counselors at Boys and Girls Country, a nonprofit children's home, apply the Lemonade Day lessons to foster financial literacy. Such knowledge, says education coordinator Kristi Avoli, is essential to help kids grow from childhood into adulthood.

This year, close to 30 young residents, who are placed in the center's cottages voluntarily, will participate in Lemonade Day at Boys and Girls Country. Their ultimate goal is to garner funds to take a three-day summer beach vacation in Florida.

"We help families in crisis," Avoli explains. "Part of creating a normalized nurturing environment is also giving the kids a vacation. For our children, some who have no families and others who otherwise would live in cars, it's something they look forward to with excitement."

Miron Gelmesa, 14, thinks Lemonade Day is really cool.

"I was really surprised to see so many people at the (Lemonade Day Best Tasting Contest)," he says. "We had a big line at our stand. Even though it was a contest, we helped other kids get their stands ready. I just wanted everyone to be happy."

Lucy the bulldog on a mission to help her friends

Seven-year-old Grace Lewis did it all herself. She took a couple of tables, made a sign with a picture of her puppy, added some balloons and she was ready to go. She devised her secret recipe, prepared sample batches and had a taste test with her family.

When she realized she needed help, this savvy entrepreneur hired her younger brother Graham.

"I really love my dog Lucy," she explains. "She loves belly rubs and gets them every day. I want other dogs to be as happy as Lucy."

Lewis will donate her proceeds to the English Bulldog Rescue Network, which provides shelters, foster care and health care and finds proper homes for stray pups.

"Some bulldog organizations don't have much money to get dog food, take dogs to the vet and take care of them," Lewis says. "That's just sad."

Pink lemonade and cancer talk

Event at a tender age of 5 and 3, sisters Erin and Kara Baumeister know that a close family member wrestled with breast cancer. But this story has a happy ending: She survived.

The experience changed their lives, and now they are on a mission to teach about early cancer detection, healthy living and that everyone, no matter how small, can make a difference.

"Initially they wanted to donate everything back to Pink Ribbons Project," Kathryn Baumeister, the girls' mother, says. "But using the Lemonade Day protocol, they can save some money so they can do this again in the future."

Their stand on Memorial Park near the tennis center will be easy to spot: Look for a 12-foot tall pink-painted statue of a ribbon, pink balloons — pink everything. They will be handing out information about nutrition, wellness and basic facts about the disease.

"We've been wanting to do a lemonade stand for a long time," Erin Baumeister says. "It feels good to do something good."

Lemonade Day Houston is on Sunday. Participating students all over the city will put up stands to earn your business. To find a specific location, click here.