Help Fight Hunger at This Little Man Ice Cream Event on September 24

Little Man Ice Cream and its longtime nonprofit partner Far Away Friends will work together to fight hunger locally and globally this weekend with A Day of Impact. On Saturday, September 24, all Little Man Ice Cream locations will donate 25 percent of proceeds to Far Away Friends, which is dedicated to providing education to children in Uganda, as part of its scoop-for-scoop program.

The program started when Little Man opened in 2008; three cents was set aside from each scoop sold to be used to donate a scoop of rice or beans for those in need. In 2011, Little Man transitioned to donating five cents per scoop, using the funds for rice and beans as well as other causes. "We just said, look, let's just make a commitment to put five cents for every scoop of ice cream that we sell into a fund, and we take those dollars and we use them globally," says Little Man founder Paul Tamburello.

The proceeds from Saturday's event will go toward feeding 500 students at Global Leaders Primary School in Uganda, which was started by Far Away Friends to bring quality education, empowerment and a strong, supportive community to students. "We are what we call a demonstration school," notes Jayme Ward, the organization's executive director. "We want to show what all kids should have access to: lunch programs, clean water at school, dorms for students and housing for all of our teachers."
Far Away Friends' partnership with Little Man started before the school began. "I heard about Little Man and their scoop-for-scoop program in 2014, after we had just started Far Away Friends," Ward says. "They were inspired by this huge vision we had. Little Man was the first business that took a chance on us and invested in us."

"I think that companies have a responsibility to just build into their business model a philanthropic, if you will, line item in their budget," Tamburello explains. "As we’ve grown, each location has taken on a different philanthropic mission that gives our employees a sense of purpose greater than just serving ice cream."

Little Man will also collect food on September 24 to help fight hunger locally. Non-perishable food items will be donated to Greater Park Hill Community Food Pantry, Bienvenidos Food Bank, Homeward Alliance and Colorado East Community Action Agency. The food banks are also in need of soap, shampoo, toothpaste and deodorant.

"I’m most excited to connect with more community members in the Denver area that have a passion and a heart for making a global impact or a local impact," Ward says. "I think together as a Denver metro community — but across the state, since there are so many Little Man locations — we have a huge opportunity to make a really incredible impact."

All seven Little Man Ice Cream locations will be accepting non-perishable food donations all day on Saturday, September 24. Cash donations will also be accepted.