For the past nine summers, James Karagiannis has been selling ice-cream in disadvantaged areas of Buffalo, New York.
But recently, he was saddened to see that some of the neighbourhood kids couldn’t afford one of his $1 sweet treats.
“One of the hardest parts about being an ice cream dude is seeing the disappointment on a kid’s face when all of their friends buy ice cream but they’re left out because they don’t have a dollar,” he wrote on a heartfelt Facebook post.
So James did something heartwarming. He started carrying around a stash of freebies in his cart – but only if they could answer his maths or history question correctly.
“I don’t like the idea of just giving something away to a kid without at least trying to teach a lesson,” wrote James, who has got his ice cream-wielding colleagues in on the act of kindness too.
“We’re in these neighbourhoods every day and are a part of these kids lives, therefore we have the responsibility to be positive role models.”
As well as giving their education a boost, James is keen to teach them gratitude.
Whenever someone hands him extra cash, telling him to treat disadvantaged kids to a cone, he does just that – but only if the kids then write a thank you note.
James will then send the note to the person who made the kind donation on their behalf.
“Thanks for helping us see to it that no kid goes without ice cream,” he wrote.
What a guy! It’s nice to see a businessman putting the almighty dollar aside a little bit for the sake of a child’s happiness. You can read his full post below.
