Kahaluu teacher and ice cream vendor is finalist for $20,000 Good Humor grant

Apr. 14—A special education teacher and ice cream vendor from Kahaluu is in the running for a $20, 000 prize from the Neighborhood Joy Grant Program.

A special education teacher and ice cream vendor from Kahaluu is in the running for a $20, 000 prize from the Neighborhood Joy Grant Program.

Zoe Green, a teacher at King Intermediate School, is one of five finalists contending for the title of "Joy Driver of the Year."

Good Humor, an ice cream company owned by Unilever, launched the program to help ice cream truck drivers and pushcart operators sustain their business year-round.

Good Humor says Green embodies the aloha spirit with her self-made ice cream tricycle—basically an e-bike pulling a trailer with a cooler full of ice cream that she rides around the neighborhood to sell sweet treats.

Green said she was inspired by her own fond memories of growing up with the "Manapua Man, " and that she decided one hot, muggy summer day to bring back that spirit.

So, she put a generator and a cooler on a bike trailer, hooked it up to an e-bike and rode it around the neighborhood.

She sells either ice cream or shave ice and other treats, mostly on weekends and holidays.

Having grown up riding dirt bikes and motorcycles, she said there was a learning curve to riding an e-bike, but she now has the hang of it.

Green, a trained pharmacist who decided to switch to full-time teaching, says the greatest reward is seeing the smiles on people's faces as she comes by with her ice cream bike.

"If people just had more positivity, happiness and joy, it would cure a lot of things like depression or stress, " she said.

When out riding the ice cream bike, she finds it nice to see some of her students and their parents outside of regular school hours, and it brings the community together.

"You want to keep aloha alive in Hawaii, " she said, "and be a beacon of hope for others."

The contest originally had a pool of more than 200 applicants, with 16 selected as semifinalists each receiving a $5, 000 grant.

Green is one of five finalists selected from the semifinalists ; the other vendors serve Michigan, Florida, New York and New Jersey.

The contestant with the most wins the grand prize.

So what would she do if she won ?

"I would first invest in something that's not a bicycle, " she said, noting there are a lot of hills in Kahaluu. "Something more convenient, maybe with four wheels or one of those mopeds with a trailer attached to it."

She said she would also be interested in forming a co-op or a collaboration with other small business owners to bring an ice cream trailer to other neighborhoods.

Each finalist has posted a video, and votes are being accepted at until 11 :59 p.m. today.