Shutdown of child’s ice cream stand leads to community fundraising effort

A 12-year-old boy named Danny Doherty wanted to make money and hold a fundraiser in his Norwood, Massachusetts, community. He set up his own homemade ice cream stand this summer, but town officials shut him down .

A major community-wide movement followed the shutdown that dwarfed what Danny had originally set out to achieve. Now, tens of thousands of dollars have been raised for a local cause.

The young man had the idea to sell frozen treats in his neighborhood and gave half the money to his brother's hockey team. He served vanilla, shaved chocolate and fluffernutter to about 20 friends and neighbors. After a few days, his family received a letter from the Norwood Board of Health , ordering them to close the stand.

Town officials said they had received a complaint, and the stand was found to be in violation of the Massachusetts food code. The family felt let down, but Norwood town officials soon found themselves in hot water when the city received death threats and hate mail .

The town manager said the situation had been mischaracterized, and the city acted on public concerns.

Instead of giving up, Danny and his family turned the setback into something positive . He started giving away the ice cream and accepting donations for the Boston Bear Cubs , a hockey team for players with physical and development disabilities, including his brother, who has autism.

On the first day of the new fundraiser, he ran out of ice cream in just 10 minutes and raised $1,000 in donations. As word continued to spread, the community rallied around his cause. Local businesses soon joined, hosting their own fundraisers to support the hockey team.

One local shop teamed up with a Boston radio station to host a fundraiser, netting $3,600.

In all, Danny's cause brought in $20,000 for his brother's hockey team.

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