Ben & Jerry’s to swap pumpkins, ice cream for food shelf donations

October 15, 2021  |  By Waterbury Roundabout 

Staff at Ben & Jerry's Waterbury plant swaps pumpkins, ice cream and Halloween treats for donations of food and cash for the Waterbury Area Food Shelf each year. The event starts at 9 a.m. Sunday. File photo courtesy Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry’s annual Pumpkin Give Away to support the Waterbury Area Food Shelf is set for Sunday morning, Oct. 17, at the ice cream factory on Vermont Route 100. 

Staff from the plant will set up in the lower guest parking lot to collect non-perishable food items for the food shelf. In exchange, they will have pumpkins to hand out along with goodie bags for children and ice cream, of course. 

The event begins at 9 a.m. and lasts until all the pumpkins are gone. 

Monetary donations for the food shelf will also be accepted. 

Last year’s collection brought in about 750 pounds of food and close to $500 for the food shelf. Ben & Jerry’s gave out all of the 300 pumpkins on hand and hundreds of pints of ice cream.