Food - A pastor's dream of free ice cream

Pastor Rich Ingui said he and his wife were holding a home group during the middle of summer in Mechanicville, 10 years ago. At the end of the group, they were going to hand out ice cream, but realized the freezer was broken.

“We decided to go around the neighborhood and give the ice cream away,” Ingui said. “It was a great idea to go around and share the love of Christ with people.”

Ingui and his wife started the church 3 ½ years ago and kept the idea of giving away ice cream alive.

Susan and Ian Zumback, owners of Cloud Nine salon, started going to the church and tried to find different ways to get involved in the ministry. They found a truck and inquired about it – the owners of the truck donated it to the church.

“It came together like a puzzle,” Ian said.

He said the pastors had no idea the couple was doing this for them and were taken back when the Zumbacks’ drove the truck up during a church function.

Ian said when the pastors gave away the ice cream 10 years ago, it opened a door for them to share the gospel.

They pastors looked at buying an old ice cream truck, but the cost was upwards of $20,000. He said they’ve been hoping and praying for this for so long, and now they can go forward with this unique ministry.

“I was glad we were able to answer one of their prayers,” he said.

Pastor Ingui said the Zumbacks blessed them with a truck and were overwhelmed when they first saw it.

“My wife and I started crying,” Ingui said. “It’s a wonderful thing they’ve done; this has been in our hearts for so long.”

Now that they have the ice cream truck the next step is getting the truck insured. Pastor Ingui said it isn’t as easy it looks getting everything in line. He said it costs $3,000 just to put plates on it.

Ingui said the church will work through the insurance and hope to get in on the road for next year.

“We are gearing up to get it up by next year,” Zumback said.

Ingui said the purpose of having the ice cream truck is not to compete with anyone else’s business, but to go to different towns and parks on the weekend where people gather to hand out ice cream.