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Man to celebrate 26th birthday with ice cream giveaway

Jon Boyd spent his last birthday in Toyko. This year, he wanted to do something more special and give to others.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jon Boyd never expected to raise $400. He certainly didn’t expect to raise it in just two hours.

“We doubled it and got $800 in the next two hours,” said the soon-to-be 26-year-old. “We didn’t touch it after that. We didn’t want to jinx it.”

The Go Fund Me page, which is flirting with $2,000 after 19 days online, is all for his big birthday plans. On May 29, a day before Jon turns 26, he’ll park a soft serve ice cream truck in three different locations in St. Petersburg and hand out free ice cream to anyone who wants a cone.

“No strings. It’s on me. Get in line,” he said with a laugh. “Once we run out it’ll be over. But, it’s going to be really special. Hopefully, we pull it off.”

The idea came from an inner conviction. Jon spent his 25th birthday in Toyko last year. As he planned out his 26th birthday he decided to use that day to give back.

“Ice cream is the best thing in the world,” said Boyd, who graduated from USF St. Petersburg in 2015. “When I sit back and reflect on all those moments when I was happiest, it was around my birthday.”

Boyd and a few friends will rent out a truck, Softee The King, and ride around town serving soft serve cones. Boyd estimates he’ll give away 600 cones on May 29.

“Why not?” he said.

Boyd expects the ice cream to only cost around $400 – the amount he originally aimed to raise. The extra money raised after the ice cream is served with be donated to a family mission that has become special for Boyd. 

Birthday Candles For Kids is a nonprofit group run by sisters who throw birthday parties for homeless and foster kids. It was featured in an "On The Road" segment in August 2018.

“That’s a lot of money for a lot of parties for homeless kids,” he said. “When you focus on that mission and not necessarily what’s happening around you, I think you’ll always be able to execute.”

It’s a sweet idea that doesn’t surprise the people who know Jon best.

“(Him) doing this doesn’t really surprise me,” said Jarrett Sabatini, a former college classmate of Boyd’s, who operates Intermezzo Coffee and Cocktails. It will be one of the stops on Boyd’s ice cream giveaway. “It’s a random act of kindness. I think we need more of that.”

Boyd admits that he usually goes all out for his own parties. He called birthdays “inherently selfish”. He thinks giving away a sweet treat is the best way to celebrate.

And his favorite flavor?

“You can’t go wrong with swirl, man,” he said with a hearty laugh.

Jon will hand out ice cream from 3 to 8 p.m. May 29. He expects to spend at least an hour at each of his three planned locations. He’ll park the Softee King truck at Intermezzo Coffee and Cocktails (1111 Central Ave, St. Petersburg), Sundial St. Pete (153 2nd Ave N, St. Petersburg) and the USF St. Pete campus (140 7th Ave S, St. Petersburg). He is also hoping to make a stop at a foster care facility.

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