HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP: ‘Cream King Mondays’ are helping others

By John Tredrea, Special Writer
   Four and a half years ago, Cream King began a special summertime project designed to help worthy causes.
   Early this month, that effort passed the impressive milestone of raising more than $20,000.
   In Hopewell Township on the southbound side of Route 31 near Yard Road, Cream King is an ice cream/snack shop. It’s been owned for 10 years by Phil Volpe, president of the Hopewell Valley YMCA.
   ”I’m always trying to think of ways to get local businesses involved in the nonprofit sector to help out,” Mr. Volpe said Monday.
   On “Cream King Mondays,” which have been held every week between Memorial Day and Labor Day since 2008, 20 percent of Cream King’s revenues, plus all employee tips for that day, are donated to worthy causes.
   ”The YMCA, the seniors, the Hopewell Valley Recreation Foundation, the Hopewell Valley Teen Center and the Hopewell Valley Education Foundation all get checks every year,” Mr. Volpe said.
   ”The check I wrote to Catholic Charities the other day put us over $20,000 for Cream King Mondays since we started them. Most of the money we raise stays in Hopewell Valley. Some of it goes to Trenton, as well.”
   Mr. Volpe said having employees donate their tips on those Mondays is good for them as well as for the causes the special days benefit.
   ”Hopefully, some of these incredibly fortunate kids who get to grow up in the Hopewell Valley, and also get tipped generously by their friends and neighbors, will learn to be a little kinder and more compassionate and grow up as people who support the local charities,” he said
   Cream King Mondays had their genesis in 2007.
   ”We started this when a mom, Margaret Fowler, asked my daughter, Kristen, if she thought Cream King would try and do a fundraiser for Tommy Bilskey, a Hopewell Elementary student whose serious illness had brought his family a lot of medical bills. We did and it was a great day in the history of Cream King,” Mr. Volpe said.
   ”It’s my favorite day of the 10 years I’ve been there. The lines were long, people were very generous and we wrote that family a check for $1,000,” he said.
   So dropping by Cream King on a Monday can get you more than a nice cold ice cream cone or other treat. It gives you chance to help those who need and deserve it.