The Daily Populous Monday May 18th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by today.com and submitted by Comprehensive-Way482

An ice cream truck is scooping up kindness — and serving it on the house.

In the Gardner, Massachusetts area, Maddy’s Ice Cream and More, is in its third year of slinging scoops of cookies and cream, cotton candy and strawberry cheesecake.

Helmed by owner Madyson Silvagnoli, the small business serves scoops, splits and shakes, and has a slew of fun toppings like peanut butter cups and caramel sauce, attracting sweet-toothed children far and wide.

Recently, the business went viral in a big way, because one of those children couldn’t afford a sweet treat — and Silvagnoli didn’t turn him away.

“He said he has no dollars,” her cousin, Mikenzy Sargent, who is working the truck with Silvagnoli, tells her in an April 15 video.

“It’s OK, bring him back,” Silvagnoli tells Sargent as they notice the child has started crying while walking away.

“We don’t turn kids away when they don’t have money,” Silvagnoli says. “You want an ice cream from Maddy, you get an ice cream from Maddy.”

Silvagnoli swirls whipped cream on a scoop and adds colorful sprinkles, which makes it to the now-happy kid.

“Buddy, you can always come up to the ice cream truck,” Silvagnoli tells him, and Sargent repeats it to him.

Captioned, “No money, no problem. Kindness is always free,” the video quicky went viral, attracting more than 8.6 million views and thousands of supportive comments.

“As a kid that got left out from ice cream time you definitely changed his week,” commented one viewer.

“I remember crying frequently when I was little because my family couldn’t afford things like ice cream often. It was hard seeing the other neighborhood kids getting to enjoy theirs,” wrote another. “This is a beautiful act of kindness.”

Maddy’s Ice Cream Is Now Giving Out Free Scoops to All Kids

Silvagnoli has given out free ice cream and shared the interactions on her account before, but it was this particular video that struck a chord.

“is there a way to send like 200 bucks for the kids who don’t have money for ice cream,” asked one commenter.

“Where can I donate so you can give another one for free? Love it!!!” said another.

One more wrote, “Can we donate to make sure no kid left without ice cream ??”

Now, Silvagnoli says, so many people have donated to her business, “each child I see gets a free ice cream.”

“I empathize with each child that comes up to the ice cream truck,” Silvagnoli tells TODAY.com, adding that she often thinks of her three kids. “Ice cream trucks are childhood and nostalgia. People remember their ice cream truck.”

So many people from around the country and even world — from Denmark to Australia — have sent in small and large donations, and they “keep coming in,” she says.

“The world is getting so scary, and I have three daughters, and nieces and nephews and all that, and I want them to have a bright future,” she adds. “I feel like, if I start something so small they can see my kindness, pay it forward, and it just spreads.”

RainaDPP on May 18th, 2026 at 01:19 UTC »

Love someone who answers "if you make it free for one person you have to make it free for everyone" with "okay, bet."

ryuail on May 18th, 2026 at 00:12 UTC »

That is wonderful!

cguiopmnrew on May 17th, 2026 at 21:52 UTC »

https://giphy.com/gifs/1Qdp4trljSkY8