Boston City Councilor Giving Kids Free Ice Cream For Shoveling Out Hydrants
BOSTON (CBS) -- A Boston City Councilor has a plan to motivate his youngest constituents to clear fire hydrants after snowstorms--and the results are pretty tasty.
City Councilor Matt O'Malley is giving kids $5 gift cards to ice cream chain JP Licks if they shovel out a fire hydrant this winter.
Attn kids of Boston: Shovel out a fire hydrant & have your parents post a before/after pic. I'll send you a $5 gift certificate to @jplicks.
— Matt O'Malley (@MattOMalley) January 8, 2017
O'Malley said he sees this as a win-win, because the hydrants need to be accessible and kids could use the exercise--and the civics lesson.
"I'm trying to get young people, the youth of Boston particularly, to both provide a public service, learn good citizenship, and be rewarded with some free ice cream when they're done," O'Malley told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens.
The plan got results during this past weekend's snowstorm.
He says he started the practice two years ago, during the winter of 2015--which O'Malley calls "the winter of our discontent."
"I've been very gratified with the fact that so many kids participated two years ago," he said. "Last year was a mild winter, so we didn't do it. We started again on Sunday, and we had about 10 more kids do it this past Sunday."
Before and after photos are required, and can be sent to O'Malley via social media or email.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports