A Massachussettes boy was forced to close down his homemade ice cream stand after somebody filed a complaint with the health department. Nancy Doherty said her son Danny wanted to help raise money for his brother’s special needs hockey team, so she suggested he sell homemade ice cream in their front yard.
“I suggested to him, ‘Instead of a lemonade stand, if you really want to generate some interest, why don’t you make ice cream?'” she told Fox News.
Nancy and Danny decided to make four flavors: vanilla, shaved chocolate, cannoli, and New England fluffernutter to sell. Danny named his new ice cream stand Tree Street Treats and created a logo and Instagram account for his new business.
The new business was a hit with Danny’s friends and family, and he earned $124 in his first week, donating half of the proceeds to the Boston Bears Club.
“It’s my brother’s hockey team, it’s like a special hockey team … It’s where he goes and plays hockey,” Danny explained to Fox News.
Unfortunately, his charitable business venture was short-lived. A few days after opening the stand, Nancy said she received a letter from the Department of Health informing her and Danny that it is illegal to sell homemade ice cream. The letter ordered them to immediately shut down their operation.
Since they couldn’t sell the ice cream and didn’t want to waste it, Nancy and Danny decided to give the rest away for free while still accepting donations for the Boston Bears Club.
Danny received around 200 donations, totaling $7,500 for the hockey team. In addition, three local ice cream stores reached out to the team and said they also wanted to host fundraisers to support the organization.
“We took a disappointing and discouraging situation. We made a decision to do something positive with it — and look at all of the positivity that came out of it,” Nancy said.
The Department of Health has not commented on the situation.
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