From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
Ben and Jerry’s Atlantis Supports Ride for Hope 2012
By Eric Hall, Kerzner International
Apr 20, 2012 - 3:49:22 PM

Executive Pastry Chef Paul Hayward on the Ben and Jerry's Electric Freezer Bike Photo: Warren Grant
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Paradise Island, Bahamas
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As a part of its mandate to give back to the community Ben and Jerry’s
Atlantis, headed by Executive Pastry Chef Paul Hayward, has quickly
become a fixture at the annual Ride
for Hope in Eleuthera. This past weekend, Chef Paul along with Ben and
Jerry’s Regional Business Consultant for Atlantis Jennifer Merrell,
Store Manager Monique Pinder (a cancer survivor herself) and Soda Jerk
Cleveland Clarke
packed a trailer (a caravan of ice cream if you will) and headed to beautiful Governor’s Harbour Eleuthera.
With a plan to support 700 adults
and 200 children with free ice cream as a reward for riding and
volunteering, the Ben and Jerry’s team made a total charitable donation
of almost $10,000 in product, water bottles for all
riders as well as sponsoring this year’s Team Kerzner Jersey for up to
50 members.
Also, the time travelling, preparing and serving ice cream was donated as time off by the staff.

Jennifer Merrell, Ben and Jerry's Regional Business Consultant rides 100 miles Photo: Warren Grant
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Early on Saturday the team had a
booth fully stocked with the many flavours offered by Ben and Jerry’s
and as a special and appropriate surprise, Chef Paul himself set out for
20 miles on the custom Atlantis/Ben and Jerry’s
electric bicycle complete with rear freezer stocked with ice cream
bars.
“This was by far the biggest charity event we have
ever done through Ben & Jerry’s at Atlantis and took over 4 months
to plan due to the sheer distance and logistics involved of getting to
Governors Harbour, Eleuthera with all equipment
and ice cream from Atlantis,” said Hayward.
“The trip on Bahamas Ferries took approximately 8
hours from door to door through high winds, rain and rough seas causing
half of the boat to be sick and then arriving at the island in complete
darkness with few lights and restricted to
25mph max speed due to the weight of the trailer, road conditions and
lighting,” he continued.
“Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben
Cohen once said, ‘Business has a responsibility to give back to the
community.’ We liked the sound of it so much; we even made a bumper
sticker out of it! And, of course, we also made connecting
with our community a part of our culture. As you might expect, we
donate loads of ice cream each year to community organizations around
the country to help them celebrate a special event, draw a crowd, or
advance fundraising efforts within their communities,”
said Merrell.

Soda Jerk Cleveland Clarke and Manager Monique Pinder Photo: Warren Grant
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“On the personal side of things, I lost 2 very
important family members (my grandmother who loved to bake cookies,
cakes, and anything with sugar and needed the help of her granddaughter
and my uncle who always made sure his niece knew
how to have fun) to aggressive, quick spreading cancers. After watching
the deteriorating of these members of my family, I have been an avid
supporter of cancer research and early detection education. To me, this
ride reminded me of all the great times I had
with each of these family members and how thankful I am for continuous
research into finding a cure for this deadly disease. The overall
experience and support from the local community, volunteers, and other
riders made this bike ride one to remember and something
I hope to participate in again in the future.”
Chef Paul concluded, “After the event we estimated
that we served over 1500 scoops and gave out 192 ice cream bars. It was
not an easy task, but the thought of us helping encourage these riders
and volunteers that support this cause every
year at the Ride for Hope to raise thousands of dollars for a great
cause, gave us hope and kept us going as we all have lost someone close
to us with some form of cancer and mine was my grandfather when I was
very young and did not have the chance to spend
the kind of time most kids do with theirs, but have the best memories
that I still cherish.”
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