Summer treats turn into troop care packages


Photos by Rob Seitzinger
Mary Humphreys Goldenthal (center) with her parents and the owners of Springer’s Ice Cream in Stone Harbor, Neil and Barbara, pack boxes with items to be shipped to American troops in Iraq after raising money by selling Freedom Fighter ice cream in August.
Mary Humphreys Goldenthal (center) with her parents and the owners of Springer’s Ice Cream in Stone Harbor, Neil and Barbara, pack boxes with items to be shipped to American troops in Iraq after raising money by selling Freedom Fighter ice cream in August.

The crew that helped pack boxes for soldiers included (back row, from left) Neil Humphreys, Jackie Baldwin, Shannon Griesser, Barbara Humphreys, Mary Humphreys Goldenthal and Caroline Seitzinger, and (front, from left) Michael Seitzinger, Marc Conte, Neil Goldenthal and Julia Jett.
The crew that helped pack boxes for soldiers included (back row, from left) Neil Humphreys, Jackie Baldwin, Shannon Griesser, Barbara Humphreys, Mary Humphreys Goldenthal and Caroline Seitzinger, and (front, from left) Michael Seitzinger, Marc Conte, Neil Goldenthal and Julia Jett.
 

September 17, 2008

ERMA -- Springer’s Ice Cream of Stone Harbor teamed up with Sponsor the Troops recently to send almost 40 boxes that pretty much amounted to care packages to U.S. troops in Iraq. The items that filled the boxes were purchased using funds that Springer’s raised in August by selling a special new flavor called Freedom Fighter Ice Cream, a red, white and blue concoction of vanilla ice cream swirled with blueberries and strawberries.
The idea started with a promotion from Springer’s for community members to come up with anew flavor to sell in August. The brother/sister team of Michael and Caroline Seitzinger, of Cape May Court House, helped come up with the patriotic theme and the owners of Springer’s, Neil and Barbara Humphreys and their daughter Mary Humphreys Goldenthal, were all for it. After about three weeks of selling the special flavor, they raised $1,500 to purchase goods for the soldiers.
That’s when Jackie Baldwin, of Support the Troops, stepped in and made it all happen. She purchased:

  •  Raisin & Nut Trail Mix
  •  Microwave popcorn
  •  hand sanitizers
  •  deodorant
  •  toothbrushes
  •  dental floss
  •  puzzle books
  •  bubbles
  •  pens
  •  Tootsie Pops
  •  Christmas card packs
  •  cheese crackers
  •  shampoo
  •  skin lotion
  •  lip balm
  •  hairspray
  •  toothpaste
  •  razors
  •  shaving cream
  •  Pez candy
  •  Salt Water Taffy
  •  Bubble Gum Cigars
  •  Gold Rush Bags Bubble Gum
  •  phone cards

    Not a bad care package, huh? All the items were gathered, separated and organized to fit perfectly into each box by Baldwin. On Sunday afternoon, in a veterans hall in Erma, volunteers packed the boxes and then Baldwin took care of shipping them out this week.
    Also in each box was a copy of this letter:

Sept. 14, 2008

Dear Troops,
We are so pleased to be part of this project to send you care packages as a small token of our appreciation for your selfless service to our great country!
A little history behind the project . . . Our store is a family-operated seasonal business on the Jersey Shore in the town of Stone Harbor. Our shop has been in business for nearly 80 years and we make homemade ice cream, over 60 flavors in all, each day during the summer season. This summer the town asked if we would allow people from the media to come to our shop and create their own flavors to sell. Rob Seitzinger of The Gazette and Leader newspapers jumped at the chance and together with his children came up with an idea that we could not resist.
In mid-August Rob came to help us make the first batch of his flavor, Freedom Fighter – vanilla ice cream with blueberry and strawberry swirl. Rob requested that we donate a portion of the profits to sending care packages to our troops. Since we have two immediate family members with military service – one retired from the Army Reserves and one currently in his 23rd year with the Army and now a colonel – we immediately loved Rob’s idea and decided to donate all of the Freedom Fighter profits to this project. During the last half of August we sold nearly 20 gallons of Rob’s red, white and blue treat!
We wish that we could send you some Freedom Fighter, but since that is not very practical, we hope that you will share and enjoy the goodies selected for you by Jackie Baldwin of Sponsor the Troops. She has done a great job of pulling the end result of this project together!
We cannot possibly do or say enough to thank you for the sacrifices that you and your families have made in an effort to serve and protect the freedom that we enjoy so abundantly in the United States! May God bless you always and bring all of you home safely!
With sincere gratitude,
The Humphreys Family & the 2008 Springer’s Crew

PS – If you ever make it to the Jersey Shore when you get home, please stop by and introduce yourself and let us treat you to some ice cream!

The boxes should arrive to the troops in three weeks, and the Springer’s folks said they will plan on selling Freedom Fighter ice cream as long as we have troops in harm’s way, so look for it next summer and help put a smile on a soldier’s face.



Rob Seitzinger can be e-mailed at seitz [at] catamaranmedia.com or you can comment on this story by calling 624-8900, ext. 250.

Check out his Cape Cuisine food blog | Cape Cuisine Blog | Cape Cuisine Archive | Return to Columns Home