Velvet Ice Cream Establishes Permanent Donations to Stefanie Spielman Fund

Utica, Ohio (February 3, 2010) – The Velvet Ice Cream Company has established a permanent avenue to fund the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research through the sales of its Vanilla Lovers Trio.

A portion of all sales of the flavor will be donated to the Spielman Fund on a permanent basis. Over the past two years, Velvet has periodically sold vanilla ice cream with proceeds going to the fund. The decision to make it a permanent fundraiser followed a recent check presentation and meeting with the staff at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

"We were simply overwhelmed with the great work they are doing at the James and we want to be an ongoing contributor to that cause," said Luconda Dager, president of Velvet Ice Cream. "Breast cancer is an insidious disease that has twice touched our family. If we can contribute to this on a continuing basis, we're all for it."

The Dager family matriarch and company treasurer, Tatla Dager, and her daughter Joanne, who is vice president of Velvet's food service division, are both breast cancer survivors. Velvet will permanently produce the Vanilla Lovers Trio in an updated version of its pink package adorned with images of the distinctive pink breast cancer ribbon. Like the previous packages, it also will feature a photograph of Tatla Dager and Spielman, who died in November

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. The historic Ye Olde' Mill, which houses the company headquarters, an ice cream museum and restaurant, attracts more than 150,000 visitors a year.

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CONTACT:
Robin Yocum
614.378.3286