Stories of Kindness from Around the World

A Traveling Truck of Sweetness


--by DoNothing, posted Dec 15, 2008

I was on my school's campus the other day and there was an ice cream truck parked right in front of one of the main common areas of the school. Since I had primarily seen ice cream men drive their musical trucks around neighborhoods for elementary school kids, I never thought an ice cream man would circle our campus and come for us, overgrown kids, such as myself.  I was intrigued and was prompted to investigate further.

I was quite surprised when the sweet and rather chubby man in the truck called out, "free ice cream!".

I questioned him just to confirm his words saying, "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Free ice cream, you have your choice of these four frozen treats: the rocket pop, the chocolate eclair, the strawberry shortcake, or the drumstick ."

After I got the confirmation that this guy is just giving away free ice cream, I talked with the man for a while. He told me that his dream had always been to travel around giving away ice cream, and that's exactly what he did. So his passion was expressed through maxing out all his credit cards, sleeping in his truck, and living with his mom, so he could continue to follow his dream during hard times. Now, he has sponsorships from large corporations such as Levi's to do what he loves, and to date he's gifted 125,000 of his truckload of ice cream treats!

The ice cream man told me that he was interested in inspiring people to do exactly what their hearts tell them to do in life. I kept asking him in awe, "so your dream was to just drive around and give away ice cream?" It seemed like such a peculiar goal.

"Yes, just meeting people and making them smile," he replied. 

It was a magically appropriate moment to then proceed to tell him about smile cards as I handed him one. He hadn't heard of them, but said he would check out helpothers.org. I assured him that what he was doing was exactly what the wonderful people on this site do all the time: small acts with big love.

If you'd like to learn more about the ice cream man, you can at his website:

http://icecreamman.com

Ice Cream Man (in case you find us here), this treat is on us!

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Readers Comments

Rajni wrote: The icecream truck driver just proved "when there is a will, there is a way"

May this sweet story inspire many to make our world little more sweeter in their own way with their own sweetness.
twinkle wrote: What a fantastic story - it made me feel warm and fuzzy.
cf wrote: Just stunnung! You know, i always thought that following your heart's intent was only ok when it was something "important" (my priorities, subconscious or not), like helping the sick or something. But something as lustily "childish" or innoncent as giving away ice-cream cones. And he ends up being sponsored and being able to do what he loves. That's incredible. Ok, universe, i'm going to stick to my heart's desire which is healing by supporting people go through their inner, mental/emotional/physical processes. Thanks!
faithnut wrote: Well i hope and pray i can find that kind of courage to do what god has intended for me! I feel blessed to read such an inspirational and joyful story and will remember the sweet kindness next summer when buying ice cream.
Deb wrote: What a wonderful story, very inspirational. I'm going to include it on my www. Gooddeedaday. Wordpress. Com blog. Thank you!
deepula wrote: Hi friend, i think the best things to come are the simplest acts. For example, do you know the linux operating system had been released to the public for free unlike windows. It doesn't even have viruses :) i also ensured, my first ever paper, i published, was accessible to all. Grace can be explored through icecreams, computers, science, anything at all :)
pureenergy wrote: I love this story and the ice cream man!
bubble7gum wrote: That is soooo cool! I hope that i will be able to follow my dreams like that!
james wrote: All those smiles everyday!
sierra wrote: I think a picture could go on the story

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