‘24 Days Of Ice Cream’: How This LI Shop Scooped 13,800 Mini Cups For The Holidays

COPIAGUE, N.Y. — Hershey’s Ice Cream of Copiague is betting on something a little different to get families — and their own small business — through the holidays: 24 days of ice cream.

The shop at 1648 Great Neck Road, which opened Memorial Day weekend, has rolled out a Christmas “24 Days of Ice Cream” advent calendar and an “8 Nights of Ice Cream” Hanukkah box. Each is packed with mini ice cream cups, toppings, and a ticket for a free scoop — and it’s quickly becoming a favorite new tradition for local kids, parents, and school PTAs.

“We wanted something different besides chocolate,” said owner Christine Morano, who also runs a Hershey’s Ice Cream shop in West Islip. “So we figured with the little cups we could do 23 days. And then we also wanted to get with the PTA and the school, and then they give back also.”

Her daughter, Angelica Specht, 27, of North Babylon, is the creative engine behind the project. A stay-at-home mom of three, she handles the designs, website, social media, and outreach.

“When I do advent calendars, it’s always just chocolate,” she said. “And then we were trying to think of something to bring more sales, also, because we need to survive this winter.”

A calendar of scoops — and riddles

The Christmas box, priced at $35, holds 23 numbered mini cups of ice cream, sprinkles and toppings, plus a Golden Ticket for a free regular scoop on the 24th day. Each day comes with a riddle that hints at the flavor.

“The Christmas one has riddles day one through 24,” Specht explained. “They read the riddle, take their guess— the answers are on the back — and then on the bottom is a Golden Ticket where they get a free scoop of ice cream on the 24th day.”

Some of the riddles she wrote herself; others she drafted with the help of online tools and then reworked.

“When we were doing this, it was funny because we were testing with other people, and it brought laughs,” she said. “It’s not just ice cream. You’re sitting there reading it with your family, you’re laughing. It’s fun.”

The Hanukkah box, which costs $20, offers seven mini cups of ice cream, seven spoons, toppings, and a ’Miracle Ticket’ for a free scoop on the eighth night, along with holiday riddles tailored to the festival.

“People were also like, ‘Wow, you have something for Hanukkah,’” Morano said, noting that inclusivity was important to them.

A massive fundraiser — built scoop by scoop

Specht didn’t just create the product — she turned it into a large-scale PTA fundraiser.

“I started looking for emails for all the PTAs, and I posted on a couple of Facebook groups,” she said. “Then I just sent emails to probably almost every school from Amityville all the way to like East Islip… and it actually did very well for a lot of them.”

In total, 15 schools and organizations signed on this year, including Albany Avenue in Lindenhurst, the Babylon PTA, Belmont Elementary in North Babylon, Elwood Middle School, Lindenhurst SEPTA, West Islip SEPTA, William E. DeLuca Elementary in North Babylon, several West Babylon schools, a Babylon dance studio, and St. Joseph’s nursery.

Each school received a custom flyer and earns $5 per box sold through their link.

Families can order directly from the shop or through their school’s fundraiser page. Pre-ordering is recommended, Specht said, because boxes often sell out. Families can buy boxes even if they’re not connected to a participating school.

To keep up with demand, the family has essentially turned the Copiague shop into an assembly line.

“We timed it so that it takes six minutes to scoop 48 of them at a time,” Specht said. “We have to handwrite every single one. We’ve scooped… 600 boxes of 23 on each box — that’s 13,800 scoops of ice cream. That’s just for us to be caught up. That doesn’t include the sprinkles.”

They pre-pack bags with spoons and toppings so that “when we lay it out, we’re not focusing on the spoons and the sprinkles.”

A second store — and a leap of faith

For Morano, 45, the Copiague location is the second major leap of faith in her career.

She spent more than two decades working her way up at Domino’s — starting in customer service, then management, then supervising multiple stores — while raising Angelica as a single mom. Angelica remembers doing homework inside the pizza shop.

The switch to ice cream began with a moment she still describes as fate.

Her younger daughter, Diana, had a pre-K graduation ceremony where the children announced what they wanted to be when they grew up. Diana stepped up to the microphone and declared, “I want to be the owner of an ice cream parlor.”

“Two weeks later, the West Islip location came for sale,” Morano said. “I always wanted to have my own business… and we bought it.”

Specht later shared a photo of that moment — a tiny Diana in a cap and gown — calling it the spark that changed their family’s life.

Morano has now run Hershey’s Ice Cream of West Islip for eight years, teaching herself everything from scooping to crafting detailed ice cream cakes. The Copiague store, in a busy corridor near schools and foot traffic, felt like the right next step.

The reality of winter for a small shop

Despite a strong grand opening with help from the Copiague Chamber of Commerce and local officials, business has slowed heading into winter.

“In the beginning, when we first opened, it was really, really good,” Specht said. “It makes me emotional, because my mom… she’s here all day long.”

She added that during the earliest weeks, she and her mother were working 90-hour weeks, and this winter, there are days when “not a single customer walks through the door.”

The family continues to support staff even during slow stretches.

“She doesn’t want to let anybody go,” Specht said. “So she figures it out to where she still pays them and keeps them.”

Finding joy in community

Even in tough months, the family looks for ways to stay connected. The shop offers discounted after-school scoops for nearby students, donates ice cream to local events, and frequently partners with PTAs and youth programs. The Copiague Chamber of Commerce stops in regularly.

“They make it very welcoming,” Morano said. “When we first opened, they were all coming in, stopping in. They want you to succeed.”

Looking ahead

Once the last Advent and Hanukkah boxes are picked up, the family is already planning what’s next — possibly a Valentine’s Day countdown box or mini cakes aligned with school fundraisers.

“Business is very hard,” Specht said. “But it’s also nice, because you have the repeat customers who come and they get to know you. You also have customers who are like family.”

Morano nodded behind the counter, surrounded by rows of numbered cups and stacks of Golden Tickets.

“People who never walked in here — hopefully now they will,” she said.

To help families plan:

• Christmas boxes should be picked up by Nov. 30 to begin on Dec. 1.
• Hanukkah boxes are recommended for pickup after Dec. 11.
• Order Link