Left to right:
Ben & Jerry’s
employee Jules
Woodward and
volunteers Mallory
Mahonyand Nicole
Golf scooped ice
cream Tuesday
afternoon for Free
Cone Day.
Both Ben & Jerry's
locations in Eugene
served up a total
of 14,200 cones.
Senior business
administration
major Blake
Wehling chooses
chocolate chip
cookie dough
ice cream at
Ben & Jerry’s
Free Cone Day.
Photos by Nicole Barker
i r
Cones for a
cause
Ben & Jerry's dispensed free
ice cream cones on Tuesday to
help raise money for charity
BY EVA SYLWESTER
NEWS REPORTER
Eugene Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops distrib
uted free ice cream to students and com
munity members Hiesday as they do
every April 19 for “Free Cone Day,” the chain’s
annual customer appreciation event. In addition
to providing cold refreshment on a warm spring
day, the event also funds various charity efforts.
The two Eugene scoop shops, at 1239 Alder
St. and 485 Coburg Rd., served a combined to
tal of 14,200 ice cream cones Tliesday. Junior
general science major Annie Rexford said she
could tell it was Free Cone Day because of
“the abnormal amount of ice cream cones
walking down the street” as students returned
to campus after getting ice cream at the Alder
Street shop.
Gary Bertelsen, who owns both Ben & Jerry’s
franchises in Eugene, said the Eugene shops’
practice of collecting donations for charity
during the event is in its fifth year, with a differ
ent charity each year. The first recipient was
Children’s Miracle Network.
“We knew if we were going to see 8,000 peo
ple, we could help raise money for charity,” Ber
telsen said.
Bertelsen estimated that about three-fourths of
all Ben & Jerry’s shops use Free Cone Day to help
some kind of non-profit agency.
This year the shops chose to help Relay For
Life, which raises money for the American Can
cer Society. Volunteers from the organization
stood outside the scoop shops, collecting money
from people who waited in line for free ice cream.
Those who donated received “buy one, get one
free” coupons they will be able to redeem on fu
ture Ben & Jerry’s visits.
“They’re really donating the ice cream today,
giving it away, in exchange for us being able to
solicit donations,” said American Cancer Soci
ety volunteer Richard Sherman, a survivor of
pancreatic cancer.
“Some people just come for the free ice cream;
some people actually donate,” Sherman said.
“I’ve got to say, I gave them only a quarter,”
senior political science and economics major Alex
Tinker said after getting his ice cream cone at the
Alder Street shop. “I mostly did it for the coupon.”
“I think it’s a fantastic way to raise money be
cause fundraising is already really tough,” Rex
ford said. “It’s a good charity, too.”
Relay For Life is a national event in which
teams of people camp out at a local high school,
Richard Sherman collects donations for Relay for Life, an
annual benefit for the American Cancer Society.
park or fairground and take turns running around
a track or path for up to 24 hours, raising money
for the American Cancer Society by collecting
pledges. American Cancer Society volunteer Jay
Gano said there are about half a dozen Relay For
Life events in Oregon. The local version of the
event will be run from 12 p.m. on July 29 to
12 p.m. on July 30.
Gano said the Eugene/Springfield Relay For
Life hopes to raise $500,000 this year, up from
$65,000 just nine or ten years ago.
Gano said he started volunteering for Relay
For Life shortly after his mother died of can
cer in 1989. His involvement with the charity
may have saved his life. At a previous Relay
For Life event, he learned that men over
50 need to be tested for prostate cancer, so he
insisted on a prostate cancer check at a subse
quent doctor visit. He found out exactly a year
ago that even though he showed no symp
toms, he had prostate cancer.
“I had surgery and I’m fine,” he said. “So far
I’m cancer-free.”
Besides donating money, some people aid
charity on Free Cone Day by volunteering their
time to scoop ice cream for the massive crowds.
Bertelsen said the staff increased today from
16 employees between the two Eugene franchis
es to 40. He added that it’s mandatory for all
employees to work on Free Cone Day to help
show the volunteers around.
Sophomore business major Lauren Skansgaard
said she and a friend were recruited to volunteer
for Free Cone Day while eating ice cream at Ben &
Jerry’s last week.
“I’m so dirty right now, but it’s worth it, help
ing out a good cause,” Skansgaard said, describ
ing her ice cream-speckled arms at the end of her
volunteer shift.
evasylwester@dailyemerald.com
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