5. Scoop Shops >
5.5 Local Community Action
Scoop Shop Community Action
Ben & Jerry’s franchisees take great pride in being part of their community, and virtually all translate our Social Mission into action in their own unique ways. We love to hear about projects far and near, and when we add up all the various community initiatives, including product donations and paid employee time, the sum total of our franchisees’ efforts always boggles our mind. 
In all, Ben & Jerry’s franchisees directly contributed more than $600,000 worth of time, product, and money in support of local community projects in 2006 — and leveraged even more support for valuable projects around the country through their efforts. We’re thankful for the dedication and creativity of our franchisees when it comes to community action.
Franchisee Highlights
The full story of our franchisees’ community activities in 2006 would crash your computer, so here are just a few tidbits that caught our attention:
- You can’t get a job in Jim Healey’s (Raleigh, NC) Scoop Shops without pledging a commitment to community service. All of Jim’s employees are expected
to volunteer in some way. To foster this service ethic, Jim “adopted” a local after-school program called Kids Café and his goal is to have at least one of his employees volunteering at Kids Café every day. In addition to connecting volunteers with this fantastic after-school program, Jim has donated hundreds of dollars and more than a thousand scoops of ice cream to support the program — and he’s involved in numerous other initiatives, too. - Fred vom Lehn (Charleston, SC) doesn’t let his tourist-centered locations keep him from connecting with his neighbors and community. Since 1997, Fred and his team have partnered with his local Red Cross chapter to support their quarterly media blood drives, which are televised live for 12 straight hours. Fred offers a cone to every donor, adding up to more than 3,000 scoops each year. With Fred’s help, the Red Cross has increased the number of participating donors from about 500 per drive to a record 2,000 in 2006!
- Judy Tarr (Cape Cod, MA) decided to take action in her community to help stop global warming. She joined a task force to advocate for clean buses on the Cape. Thanks in part to Judy’s hard work and dedication, today visitors can ride low-emissions buses from one tip of the Cape to the other and if they want, they can step off at the Ben & Jerry’s bus stop for a cone! Be sure to show Judy your bus pass to get a 10% discount.
- To learn more about the community activities of a Ben & Jerry’s franchisee near you, please use the local store locator on our Company website Scoop Shop page.
Franchise Community Service Project
Once a year, Ben & Jerry’s franchisees get together at the Annual Franchise Community Gathering to network and share best practices. In true Ben & Jerry’s style, the meeting traditionally kicks off with a community service project in partnership with a local nonprofit organization in the host city. 
We’ve rebuilt houses, cleaned beaches, spruced up a community center, and built playgrounds and skate parks in underserved communities over the years.
In 2006 we gathered in sunny San Diego and got straight to work sprucing up The Jackie Robinson YMCA located in one of the poorest neighborhoods of San Diego. Working hand in hand with the staff of the JRYMCA and our friends at Second Chance Strive (our San Diego PartnerShop Operator), we gave a much needed face-lift to an aging facility and several outdoor recreation areas. The JRYMCA is a beacon of hope and a safe and nurturing place for hundreds of children each year. We hope the TLC we shared during our day of work will last and make a real difference for the people of the community. In all, Ben & Jerry’s donated $25,000 and over 2,000 hours of labor to the Jackie Robinson YMCA.
In January 2007, we could have gathered in a host of sunny vacation spots, but instead decided to hold our annual franchise gathering in the great city of New Orleans. Although technically we should wait until next year’s report to write about it, we had such a great time we couldn’t wait 12 months to share the story! In short, we hoped that bringing our franchisees to New Orleans would play a small part in helping the city as it recovers from Hurricane Katrina. We brought our tourist dollars and, as always, we brought our hammers and nails, too. Franchisees and staff spent a day working with Habitat for Humanity to help rebuild homes in Musician’s Village in the 9th Ward that were destroyed by Katrina. In two great days of work, Ben & Jerry’s donated 2,500 hours of labor to New Orleans Habitat for Humanity, in addition to $30,000 in cash support.
Company Store Community Involvement
Our company stores continue to model the spirit of giving back through their community involvement and donations programs. In 2006, company stores in New York, Las Vegas and Vermont contributed more than $36,500 worth of product and staff time in support of over 50 nonprofit agencies.
Here’s just a sample of some of the ways our company stores were involved with their communities in 2006.
- Hosted Christmas is for Kids: Collected more than 1,000 gifts for kids in need
- Sponsored the COTS Walk Burlington to raise money to end homelessness
- Hosted a Vermont Cares fundraising concert every Friday during the Month of May at our Burlington Store
- Conducted a Holiday Coat Drive. Collected over 250 coats
- Donated cakes and ice cream for more than 50 organizations and schools including the Ronald McDonald House, the Salvation Army and the Emergency Food Shelf
- Collected spare change for and promoted the work of KIVA; a nonprofit that supports small business development in poor countries
- Scooped ice cream for 500 volunteers at Green Up Day in Burlington, Vermont
Scooper Bowl
In 2006, Ben & Jerry’s was once again able to send a team of scoopers from our South Burlington office down to Boston to participate in the Scooper Bowl, a gathering of ice cream companies and ice cream lovers joining together for a lot of ice cream in support of a good cause — raising money for cancer research. The Vermont folks teamed up with franchisees in the New England area to scoop thousands of servings of ice cream in all. Although hampered by terrible weather, the event raised $83,450 for the Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s children’s programs.