Moovers and Shakers – help ’em out!

I read about this little project on the Nashville Scene Bites blog last week, then saw it again this week on the Nashvillest website, so I finally took the time to follow the links to see what the hoopla was all about. Hayden Coleman and Ale Delgado, Belmont sophomores whose business plan for a mobile soda parlor recently won the 2nd place prize of $2,000 in a campus-wide entrepreneurship contest, immediately won me over in their video plea for funding.

Here’s the deal- even though they won $2,000, they still need to raise $5,000 more to cover all of their start-up costs, and they have to do so by April 24th!

My very first job in high school was at an old-fashioned soda parlor, so I have a real soft spot in my heart for their dream. That summer I became a master of malts, milkshakes, sodas and sundaes. I also developed some very strong forearms from all the ice cream scooping I had to do, so I’m familiar with the blood, sweat and tears they will quite likely endure. (Word of warning Ale and Hayden: Do NOT, under any circumstances, offer bubble gum ice cream. Trying to scoop that stuff is like cutting through a boulder with a butter knife.)

Being a little nostalgic, I ponied up some of my own dough to their campaign yesterday and I’d love if some of you could do the same! Whether it’s a dollar, five, ten, twenty, or more, they’ll be very appreciative and even show you their gratitude in some quirky ways. I’ll fess up that I selfishly wanted to be able to name my own shake, thus I splurged and went for the $25 donation.

As I type this, the pledge stands at $2,035, so they’re not quite halfway to their goal and only have 11 days left to go. So if you can spare some change, head over to their Kickstarter Project page now and donate. With a little bit from all of us, Nashville will have its first ice cream parlor on wheels tooling around town by early May!