Free ice cream is sure to bring out a crowd and that’s exactly what happened at the Free Speech Pavilion.
Ben and Jerry’s recently teamed up with social justice group MoveOn to create seven new flavors for democratic candidates for congress. That list includes 14th Congressional District candidate and Naperville resident Lauren Underwood.
Her flavor: “Lauren’s Calling a.k.a. Underwood for the Common Good.”
“I’m so excited to be here,” said Underwood. “When I first learned that Ben and Jerry’s had found out about our race and was supportive of what we’re doing, I was just honored. And the fact that they have a flavored named after us… common good? I mean that just speaks to the heart of what we’re trying to do here: restore our voices to what’s happening in Washington, and fight for the common good.”
Ben & jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen himself came out to scoop ice cream for the event.
“We’re just going to scoop a lot of ice cream,” said Cohen. “Really this is a message to people to pull out all the stops this time. Whatever you did last election, it wasn’t enough. So we have to do even more this time and for Jerry and I, pulling out all the stops is cranking out the ole ice cream freezer.”
The special ice cream is made with an apple pie base along with peanuts, pecans, and a caramel swirl. A flavor Cohen said is designed to promote the message of “embrace everyone.”
Ben and Jerry’s plans to make about 40 pints of Underwood’s ice cream, which will be raffled off with the proceeds going to her campaign.
Underwood is challenging Republican incumbent Randy Hultgren for the house seat.
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.
