13-year-old boy uses ice cream to show appreciation to teachers

AJ Ocampo with teachers and staff at Maude Price Elementary. (Courtesy photo)

DOWNEY – Even during a time as unprecedented as now, one thing has not changed: we all scream for ice cream. And no one has proved that more than AJ Ocampo and Soft Serve Smiles.

Since about August, the 13-year-old Bellflower resident has gone far and beyond to make local teachers feel loved and appreciated.

“It’s my way to say thank you to the teachers,” said Ocampo. “I thought, ‘What’s a way to do it safely?’ I thought about an ice cream truck; I thought who doesn’t like ice cream?”

His first school – with some help from his parents - was St. Dominic Savio where he attends. Since then, he has visited 17 schools and one voting center on election day. Most of his endeavors have taken place in Downey, but by no means does he want to stop there.

“I’ve been trying to make rounds to the other districts; I don’t want to keep it to one,” said Ocampo. “I’ve been trying to say thank you to all the teachers.”

Of course, this comes at a time where educators are faced with the harsh reality of teaching during a pandemic.

“I can’t imagine how hard it is to be a teacher. You have to set apart a lot of your personal time to make lesson plans, and other stuff like that,” said Ocampo. “Then, to have to transition to online learning – which is something most teachers haven’t had experience with – it’s just really hard.”

“If I as a student am having a lot of trouble, I can’t imagine them having to reshape their whole way of teaching.”

Currently in the eighth grade, Ocampo often serves ice cream during the lunch break hours and after school, all while still navigating online classes and homework himself.

It definitely does not go unappreciated.

“I actually really enjoy all the positive responses that I get,” said Ocampo. “It seems like the teachers are really happy that someone is appreciating them. I think they feel like they go unnoticed, and I think they deserve all the appreciation because we would really be nowhere without teachers.”

His charitable campaign is funded solely on donations. He uses those donations to contract a truck from Villanueva’s Ice Cream.

He says he wants to get to as many teachers as he can while funds are available.

“Currently, most of the funds come in via Venmo,” said Ocampo.

One day, he hopes that Soft Serve Smiles could become a non-profit organization, and potentially expand those he serves to essential workers and first responders.

“My dad has been helping me try to get that opportunity open,” said Ocampo. “I know for sure that we have our name out there in reserve. One of the big steps is making it a non-profit.”

For more information, Ocampo and Soft Serve Smiles can be found on Instagram.

Donations are also accepted through Venmo at @SoftServeSmiles.