Free Ice Cream Draws Big Crowd

I scream, you scream, Harvard students scream for ice cream.

Following annual tradition, hundreds of hungry Cantabrigians flocked to Ben & Jerry’s yesterday for free scoops, even though the weather was anything but ice cream-friendly.

And as ice cream connoisseurs sought refuge from the April showers, their generosity helped raise money for the Boston Refugee Youth Enrichment Summer Program (BRYE).

Although the ice cream was free, hungry patrons were encouraged to buy freshly made waffle cones for $1. The proceeds went to the summer program, which is affiliated with Harvard’s Phillips Brooks House Association.

“BRYE does this annually with Ben and Jerry’s,” said Summer Program Director Winmar Way ’07. “Its always been really successful.”

While in the past, lines had snaked around the building, this year, inclement weather kept the line confined to the dry indoors.

Some students commented that the wait to get ice cream was pleasantly short, as it took only a few minutes to travel from the Ben & Jerry’s entrance to the counter where they were met by busy employees and volunteers.

But as the day drew to a close, students descended on The Garage in ever larger numbers.

“I checked it out around 4 o’clock around this afternoon and the line was at the door,” said Michael S. Dunn ’10. “I didn’t feel like sticking around.”

This year face painting was added to the annual “free cone day” festivities, which occur at Ben & Jerry’s ice cream parlors across the country.

As volunteer Cassy Kemmer worked on turning a seven-year-old from boy to devil, she said that Harvard students had not yet taken advantage of her artistic services.

“They’re not brave enough, I guess,” she said.

Volunteers from environmental groups, including Campus Climate Challenge, were working to make sure that the line kept moving, according to store manager Joe B. Magnant.

Magnant noted that it was good for business to advocate for global warming awareness.

But, he said jokingly, “global warming would actually kind of help the ice cream industry.”

—Clifford M. Marks and Kevin Zhou contributed to the reporting of this article.