Velvet Ice Cream Launches New Flavor to benefit Nationwide Children's Hospital

April 22, 2010

The Velvet Ice Cream Company has established a fund to benefit Nationwide Children's Hospital through the sale of its newest flavor - Birthday Cake Ice Cream.

A portion of all sales of the flavor will be donated to the hospital.

The new flavor was shipped from Velvet's headquarters and is currently available in stores in the Midwest region.

The carton is co-branded with Nationwide Children's Hospital and features a photo of Amy Burchett, a four-year-old miracle baby who received treatment at the hospital.

"What a great thrill this is to be able to partner with an organization that performs miracles every day," said Luconda Dager, president of Velvet Ice Cream. “You can’t help but smile when eating ice cream, especially, Birthday Cake. Our goal is to provide support to Nationwide Children’s and create smiles and memories for these deserving patients."   

Using Birthday Cake Ice Cream for the promotion is a natural fit for Nationwide Children's, where birthdays of patients are marked with big celebrations.

Jon Fitzgerald, president of Nationwide Children's Hospital Foundation, said, "We couldn't be more excited about this special new flavor from Velvet. Birthday Cake Ice Cream celebrates everything that's wonderful about childhood, and every carton sold will help make more birthdays possible for patients at Nationwide Children's. It helps patients like Amy Burchett, who spent the first 99 days of her life as a delicate premature baby in our neonatal intensive care unit, who is now getting ready to celebrate her 5th birthday. Funds raised through this effort will help support lifesaving care and research for more children like Amy."

Another piece of the partnership between the hospital and Velvet is “My Birthday Wish” – a unique program that any child can participate in by making a donation in honor of their own birthday to Nationwide Children's. As a “thank you” for giving the gift of hope to other children, the child receives a certificate from Velvet for a carton of Birthday Cake Ice Cream. More information is available at http://NationwideChildrens.org/My-Birthday-Wish.

Headquartered at Ye Olde’ Mill in Utica, Ohio, Velvet Ice Cream has been a family owned and operated business for nearly 100 years. Founded in 1914 by family patriarch Joseph Dager, Velvet has been run by four generations of the Dager family. Each year, Velvet produces more than five million gallons of ice cream, which can be found in freezer cases throughout the Midwest and Florida. The historic Ye Olde’ Mill, which houses the company headquarters, an ice cream museum and restaurant, attracts more than 150,000 visitors a year.

About Nationwide Children's Hospital

Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report’s 2024-25 list of “Best Children’s Hospitals,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of America’s largest not-for-profit free-standing pediatric health care systems providing unique expertise in pediatric population health, behavioral health, genomics and health equity as the next frontiers in pediatric medicine, leading to best outcomes for the health of the whole child. Integrated clinical and research programs, as well as prioritizing quality and safety, are part of what allows Nationwide Children’s to advance its unique model of care. Nationwide Children’s has a staff of more than 16,000 that provides state-of-the-art wellness, preventive and rehabilitative care and diagnostic treatment during more than 1.8 million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded free-standing pediatric research facilities. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org