Ambulance delivers ice cream

What could be more delicious than ice cream for a good cause?

The family-run Emergency Sugar Response ice cream truck delivers ice cream to residents of Madison County often while collecting money for the Madison County Library or fund-raising for different groups.

“A lot of people will go ‘keep the change,’ it’s 10 cents here, a quarter there and so since we don’t plan on it in the ice cream truck’s budget, it’s a great thing to go ahead and use that toward … August (being) tips for the library month,” said family matriarch Sarah Edwards. “We ran it by the library and they thought it would be a lot of fun and so we have a little jar with a label that says ‘tips for the library’ and when people say ‘keep the change’ that’s where it goes.”

The Ruth Road-based ice cream truck, operated out of a retired ambulance, (thus the word “emergency in the business name) runs throughout Madison County along somewhat established routes. The name is also an homage to family patriarch Justin Edwards’ work with the Madison County Rescue Squad.

It started making its runs in Mid-July after a friend gave Justin Edwards the ice cream truck. He drives the painted ambulance with his four-member support crew – his wife, and their three children, Aylssa Edwards 13, Kelsey Edwards, 10, and Jax Edwards, 7.

“(Running an ice cream truck) was something we’d been talking about, we had a family friend who ran the truck in another area for a while and he had become sick and was unable to run the truck,” Justin Edwards said. “He pretty much hated seeing the truck just sit – (he) was able to pull out and show cards from school children and nursing homes and people (who) really enjoyed it and looked forward to it so he wanted to see us take it and do something with it, so we brought it home and thought we’d give it a try.”

All five of the Edwards help run the truck, through working the window and helping with some of the Web page design. The family also has a John Deere tractor-powered ice cream churn that they hire. The ice cream treats they sell from the truck do not include homemade ice cream, though that may be a new product next year, Sarah Edwards said.

“We didn’t realize how big Madison was until we started doing this, trying to find different routes and that kind of thing,” Sarah Edwards said. “We get to see new places in Madison even living here as long as we have – that’s been a lot of fun and really pretty.”

The truck does have some regular routes around the county and it is also hirable for events. Recently the Edwards family has been doing some fund-raisers for county events like the library and the upcoming Saturday, Aug. 28 fun run at Hebron Lutheran Church – this type of fund-raising is something Sarah Edwards said they hope to continue.

“If we’re having fun other people should benefit from it,” she said. “It is a lot of fun to see the smiles and giggles on the faces young and old when you drive this truck up.”

The group splits proceeds with another organization when they are hired to do a fund-raiser, Justin Edwards said.

The truck may run through the beginning of October, depending on the weather and the family’s schedule, Sarah Edwards said. Like her three children, she has class work to do – she’s getting her registered nurseing degree – and Justin Edwards works full-time in Washington, D.C.

For information, e-mail EmegencySugarResponce@gmail.com or visit the group’s Facebook page.