Sweet charity: Ice cream vendor offers free treats to disadvantaged kids

CTV News Channel: Popsicles with purpose Buffalo, N.Y. ice cream vendor James Karagiannis offers sweet treats to children who cannot afford it…but it comes with a catch.

James Karagiannis is not your average ice cream seller.

Firstly, the sweet-treat vendor from Buffalo, N.Y. peddles his $1 Popsicles on a bicycle.

Secondly, when he meets kids who can’t afford his frozen desserts, the man they call the “Ice Creamcycle Dude” gives them the goods for free.

There is a catch or two: The kids must answer a skill-testing question, usually involving math or history.

“They’re age-appropriate, we make it easy for them,” Karagiannis said in an interview with CTV News Channel. “If they get it right, they get an ice cream.

“I don’t want to just ride around and give out free ice cream, I want them to earn it,” he added. “So we thought that was a nice way to get them to feel like they earned their ice cream.”

That’s not all. “They have to write a thank-you note to the person who paid for their ice cream,” says Karagiannis.

Karagiannis started his venture in 2007, with just one bike. Now, he has a staff of eight both selling and handing out ice cream.

This year, he opened the business to donations. Donors are the ones who receive a mailed thank-you postcard from one of the youth.

Karagiannis “never expected” to raise more than $500, but the donations kept pouring in, and now top US$30,000.

“It’s really blown up online,” he said. “We have money coming in (from) all over the country, all over the world, really.”

Karagiannis said it would be “hard” to give $30,000 worth of ice cream out this summer, however, “if it takes a couple of years, we’re going to give it all out.”