By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A local branch of the popular Kona Ice franchise is giving residents a sweet treat to relieve the stress of Tax Day.
For eight years, ‘Chill Out’ Day hosted by the Kona Ice franchise, has given out complimentary shaved ice, to help get past the stress of tax deadline day
Owner Kristi Porter says the idea for ‘Chill Out’ Day came from Kona Ice founder Tony Lamb, who wanted to find a way to give back to the communities they serve on an already stressful day
“And we’re like well gosh this is a small gesture that we can do that we feel like would have a big impact on communities just to kind of connect us to all as a community to be like hey we’re going through it to and let’s celebrate, let’s do something fun for you guys as a community, and let’s give back with Kona Ice,” Porter tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
Porter says the event is very popular and brings out people from all sorts of different places.
“It’s always fun because it’s that commonality, that common thread that we have, you know did you get your taxes done? Got ’em done. Okay here we go let’s celebrate, you know. Cheers! I always like to do cheers with my people when I serve them just to have fun with them with a Kona Ice,” Porter says.
“It’s a really great way for us just to meet people and let them know that we’re all in this together.”
Porter owns five different Kona Ice operations in St. Joseph and Bonnor Springs, Kansas.
Porter says ‘Chill Out’ day is part of the businesses give back program, in which it finds ways to give back some proceeds to the people they serve
“We give them back to like the local schools and organizations, so it’s really important to us to build our partnerships up, especially with schools, we do a lot with schools and a lot with giving back on the school level,” Porter explains. “But it’s not just at schools, I mean we’ll do it with corporations, we have give back programs with our youth sports, different leagues.”
The Kona Ice truck will be in St. Joseph at the East Hills Mall beginning at 1pm.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.
