Sweetwater County Sheriff's Deputy Zach Otte keeps a plastic sandwich bag full of coins tucked in his pocket.
It started as a $20 bill exchanged for quarters. Now it's become an essential piece of patrol equipment.
Otte, who has been with the sheriff's office for two years, is on a summertime mission to visit as many lemonade stands as his calls for service will allow.
The effort began after Jason Mower, the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office public affairs director, announced on social media that deputies would spend the summer hunting down lemonade stands — places where they could wet their whistles, encourage young entrepreneurs and build connections with local families.
Big dreams. Small stands. Cold lemonade.
Those are the kinds of calls Sweetwater County deputies are hoping to answer during the dog days of summer.
"This year, from my perspective as public affairs director, we have a lot going on with an election cycle and a lot of unknowns about what the next nine months will hold," Mower told Cowboy State Daily. "People are antsy."
He saw a similar initiative online and realized there was no reason Sweetwater County couldn't do the same.
Through social media, Mower invites parents whose children are operating lemonade stands to send him a direct message with the location and hours.
"Summer break is here, and we know there are some hardworking young business owners across Sweetwater County setting up tables, mixing lemonade and chasing big dreams one cup at a time," the sheriff's office wrote in announcing the Lemonade Patrol.
The response was immediate.
"Boy, about the second I did that, my direct message inbox was flooded," Mower said.
He now maintains a running list of stands, updating it several times a week and sending locations out to deputies.
"Every time Jason sends out an address of where a stand is set up, if I'm not on a call, that's my first stop," Otte said.
Sweetwater County deputies are swapping energy drinks for cups of lemonade this summer, supporting young entrepreneurs while showing local kids that a patrol car isn't always ominous. "We're people too," said a sheriff's office rep. (Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office) 
Sweetwater County deputies are swapping energy drinks for cups of lemonade this summer, supporting young entrepreneurs while showing local kids that a patrol car isn't always ominous. "We're people too," said a sheriff's office rep. (Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office)
Maelie's Big Goal
One youngster who benefited from the Lemonade Patrol is 6-year-old Maelie Teuscher.
Maelie was selling lemonade Friday outside Napa Auto Parts in Green River when deputies Otte and Mike Merkley pulled up.
She wasn't pocketing the proceeds.
Maelie was raising money for the Clearwater Aquarium in Florida, where she will soon attend a marine biology camp.
Each year, her mother, Moriah Teuscher, tries to teach her daughter the value of working for opportunities and giving back.
"We like her to give back for opportunities and realize not everything is just handed to you," Teuscher told Cowboy State Daily.
This year, Maelie decided she wanted to sell lemonade to benefit an aquarium made famous as the home of dolphins featured in the Dolphin Tale movies. Customers could have a cup of lemonade in exchange for a donation of any amount.
After two hours behind the lemonade table, Maelie headed home with $387.60 destined for the aquarium.
Seeing sheriff's deputies pull up was among the highlights of the day.
"It's a neat initiative to teach kids that law enforcement is there to help," Teuscher said. "Their lemonade funds come out of their own pocket. It's all in the goodness of their hearts."
More Than A Cup Of Lemonade
Weekends have become especially busy for the lemonade patrol.
Not a weekend has passed since the initiative launched without deputies sending Mower photos of themselves sipping lemonade and grinning alongside young entrepreneurs.
Lemonade patrols have been popping up in communities around the country as law enforcement agencies look for ways to build positive relationships with families. Mower said he is unaware of any other Wyoming agency operating an organized effort like Sweetwater County's.
Police departments in Twin Falls, Idaho, and Puyallup, Washington, participate in their own initiative to support youth lemonade stands. Other interactions between young entrepreneurs and law enforcement occur more unofficially.
The Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office asks parents not to publicly post their children's locations, but instead to send them privately through Facebook.
"We love seeing kids build confidence, responsibility and a little small-business grit," the sheriff's office shared on social media.
For Otte, the patrol is about changing perceptions.
"A big thing for me is to get out in communities," he said.
Too often, he said, children assume a patrol car means someone is in trouble.
"I like to flip that," Otte said. "We give them positive interactions. We sit there and connect with them. We ask why they're doing it."
One of his favorite stops was a lemonade and bake sale at a Green River school.
After buying lemonade and a cake pop, Otte turned on his patrol lights for the children.
"They were over the moon," he said. “They were giddy.”
Lt. Derek Morrell has been making informal lemonade stops for years.
After once arriving at a stand empty-handed, he started keeping a cup full of spare change in his patrol car. The cup moves with him whenever he changes patrol cars.
Mower said he believes the initiative has made deputies more mindful of what local kids are doing throughout the summer.
"I think it's led to paying more attention to those types of things," he said.
For example, one deputy noticed while out on lemonade patrol that the Green River high school wrestling team was having a burgers and brats fundraiser.
"I think with the lemonade stands and kids on our deputies' radar, it's led to some other interactions with youth," Mower said.
Inflation Even Hits Lemonade
The first cup Mower bought this summer cost $1.
"At the next stand, it cost $2," he said, laughing. "I was like, 'What is this?'"
Deputies jokingly blamed inflation.
One young entrepreneur sweetened the deal by offering 25-cent refills.
Mower gladly took advantage.
"I'll stand here and talk to you and have an extra cup of lemonade," he said.
Word about the lemonade patrol continues to spread as children tell their friends about deputies stopping by.
Mower said he hopes it may even inspire kids who are bored during summer break to try something new.
"Maybe it's not lemonade," he said. "Maybe they make chocolate chip cookies."
For deputies, the effort has become a simple but meaningful reminder that community policing can be as easy as stopping for a cold drink on a hot afternoon.
"We're helping kids realize we're not just here to take everyone to jail," Mower said. "We're people, too. We care."
Otte agrees.
"There are days where it's hot, and we don't want to just be drinking water or energy drinks," he said.
In many ways, deputies say the lemonade patrol has proven to be a win-win: Kids gain customers, officers gain conversations, and a community gets one more reason to smile.
Or, as Mower put it, the biggest question may be why it took them so long to think of it.
Sometimes, the sweetest ideas are also the simplest.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
