Alice Kimbrough's Honey Dripper House ice cream truck. | Alice Kimbrough, Facebook
Published on March 20, 2024 at 3:34 pm
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Alice Kimbrough had a dream in 2008 — make something cold and sweet to bring in some extra cash.
Only two flavors of what would soon be known as Honey Dripper were available then, and she says they sold out within a day.
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Those two flavors soon evolved, and by 2011, they were being sold out of a sleek white truck appropriately named the Honey Dripper House, seen at community events all over the city’s Eastside, Northside and Downtown.
Now Kimbrough and her truck are one of five finalists in a national contest that could earn her $25,000. Although she said children and adults scream for her ice cream treats, winning that money could “create joy for all” by sprucing up the Honey Dripper House, as she described in her finalist video.
“Right now, our two biggest challenges are lack of exposure and truck repair,” Kimbrough said as she pointed around the interior of her truck in the video. “I’m on my truck currently, and the two bottom panels on my rollup door need to be replaced. There’s a leak in the roof, and there’s a hole in the floor under the gas pedal. But we feel that with these funds, those challenges are solvable.”
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On her Facebook page, Kimbrough said she started selling what became known as Honey Drippers in 2008 then bought her current truck in March 2011. That’s when she said things started getting busy, growing to 12 flavors as well as ice cream and snacks, smaller prices for children and a dollar menu
It has been “a long but fruitful journey,” she said. Her menu shows regular Honey Dripper flavors like pineapple, Just Mango and Pina Colada. But she also made Red Velvet, Lemon and Almond Pound Cakes for sale at last month’s World of Nations. And the Honey Dripper House goes to many neighborhood events like the recent Community Golf Day at Brentwood Golf Course and the 60th annual Bob Hayes Invitational last weekend at Hodges Stadium.
Then along came Good Humor’s Neighborhood Joy Grant program, aimed at helping a local ice cream truck driver receive a grant to “ensure that the joy of ice cream trucks remains in America’s neighborhoods,” the company said. That means that people are being asked to vote for the Joy Driver of the Year out of five finalists that include Kimbrough.
Finalists were picked from a pool of more than 200 ice cream truck owners who entered. They were whittled down to 16 semifinalists.
The semifinalists each received a $5,000 grant. The five finalists were then selected based on how they described their businesses and how they would use the $25,000 if they received it.
Kimbrough said repairs and publicity are her plans if she wins.
“My goal is to have the outside of my truck as well as the inside to be very inviting and in good repair,” Kimbrough said on her video. “One possible avenue is to increase exposure on more social media outlets, add some radio advertisement, as well as billboards — we have to think big.”
Fixing up the truck will only add to its longevity, she said,
Votes can be cast in the contest here through 11:59 p.m. April 14.
