Restaurant donates part of dessert sales to Massachusetts boy whose ice cream stand was shut down

SALEM – A waterfront restaurant in Salem is doing its part to help a Norwood boy after the health department shut down his ice cream stand fundraiser.

Twelve-year-old Dan Doherty was selling homemade ice cream to raise money for his brother's hockey team, the Boston Bear Cubs. The program caters to athletes with special needs. Someone reported his operation to the health department, and they sent him a letter shutting him down.

"I don't understand it. There are so many lemonade stands out there, and they don't get shut down," Dan Doherty said, "It's really disappointing it got shut down."

"Knew we needed to do something"

'We saw that article and knew we needed to do something," responded Matthew Mattera, owner of Longboards Restaurant in Salem, "As a little family ourselves, we always try to set up stands; we're making lemonade stands, making rocks, and trying to sell those. We appreciate small business."

A decade ago, Longboards began as a small variety store and ice cream shop called The Hungry Whale. Mattera said Doherty's story really hit home for them. The restaurant put a donation jar at their host stand and will be donating 25% of the sales of the signature dessert, the Bazookie.

"It's a half-baked cookie baked on a skillet, then we put some ice cream on top, Hershey's syrup, and caramel," smiled Mattera.

While WBZ-TV was there, customers already came in because they heard of Doherty's story. At least one table ordered several Bazookies and donated more to the jar.

"We are happy to help raise some money. We are going to donate that over to him," told Mattera.