Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl®
presented by FedEx
2011 date to be determined
Scooper Bowl History
The Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl was unceremoniously born in June 1983 under the blaze of the summer sun. Four sole ice cream vendors stood scooping, dripping, and melting their way through six hours, serving cup after sweet cup of ice cream to about a thousand Boston Common visitors who, for $1, slurped up as much as their hearts desired.
Ambitious representatives from Brigham's, Baileys, Emack & Bolio, and Hendries had answered the call of New England Dairy Festival organizers who wanted to serve ice cream to the thousands of tourists and school children who had traveled to Boston for the annual dairy celebration. Known simply as the "ice cream fundraising event" to those who scooped, and most likely as "an oasis" to those who ate, this one hot day was the sticky start to the largest all-you-can-eat ice cream festival in the world.
Celebrating its 28th year in 2010, the Scooper Bowl® presented by FedEx is an annual three-day event that dishes out 10 tons of the summer's finest to nearly 50,000 ice cream lovers from across the nation. Made possible by the generous contributions of nine of the industry's largest ice cream companies, the Scooper Bowl has raised more than $2.65 million in the past 28 years for cancer care and research at the world-renowned Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
"The first year was quite an experience," said Darrlyn Leikauskas, director of marketing at Brigham's. "We didn't have a tent. We didn't have chairs. There we stood, four people elbow deep in melting ice cream behind four ice cream freezers on the side of a hill."
Leikauskas had taken the call from a woman at the Federation of the Milk Market Administration and gathered her peers from the other ice cream companies to participate. A suggestion by Hendries Founder Don White to make the event a fundraiser for the Jimmy Fund was met with instant approval by the other vendors. That first year, the foursome raised $1,000 for the Jimmy Fund.
By the very next year, the ice cream fundraiser was named the Scooper Bowl. Ice cream companies Friendly's, Howard Johnson's, and Steve's joined the original four, and the vendors rented a tent to shield them and their temperature-sensitive products from the sun. The revenues jumped to $12,500 that year. "The event has been booming ever since," says White, who continues to preside over the Scooper Bowl board long after selling Hendries to HP Hood. Eighteen Scooper Bowls later, in June 2001, the Scooper Bowl raised more than $100,000.
While part of the Dairy Festival, the Scooper Bowl garnered the attention of most festivalgoers, often becoming the highlight of the event. For years, Boston's mayors closed off the streets around the Common to make way for a special parade, and schools repeatedly sent students to the festival to learn about dairy products and their nutritional value.
In 1996, the New England Dairy Festival celebrated its last summer in Boston, setting the Scooper Bowl out on its own. The next summer, the event moved to Boston's City Hall Plaza where it remains today.
From competition to camaraderie and contribution
Perhaps what is most striking about the now famous ice cream festival is that all ten ice cream companies donate all the ice cream, labor, scoopers, and products needed to make the event happen each year. Though they are competitors for 51 weeks of the year, during the first week of June they come together to create an event that is now known as the unofficial start of summer in New England.
Weather has always been a big factor in putting on the Scooper Bowl. In 2000, torrential downpours and high winds closed the event down within hours of its opening ceremony and people wore overcoats to ward off the unseasonably cold weather. In 2006, patrons donned ponchos to fight the June Nor'easter that came through. Though the rain and wind may dampen City Hall, they certainly don't bring down the spirit of the event.
Most of the companies that participated in 2009 have been an integral part of the event for more than ten years; Brigham's is the only company that has been involved since the event's inception.
A message from FedEx
FedEx team members are proud to support the Jimmy Fund, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and other community organizations in the shared commitment to improve the quality of life in Boston and throughout New England. For more on FedEx corporate responsibility and community work, visit csr.fedex.com.
