Mister Softee sells ice cream to VHS students

Most Wednesdays, the Mister Softee ice cream truck comes to VHS on the senior lawn and students get in line to buy ice cream from the truck.

Assistant Principal Elizabeth Botello said, “[The school brings Mister Softee because] students enjoy this ice cream truck and it’s a fundraising opportunity. [Mister Softee] provides a percentage of their earnings to the school organization sponsoring them. Mister Softee is provided through ASB, which means the money goes directly back to supporting students.” 

Josue Romero ‘24 said, “I love Mister Softee. I go any week that I can. I think [the Mister Softee truck] might bring even more people though if it was more advertised and [happened] less often.”

Romero said, “Being lactose intolerant, I would love to see other food trucks like maybe some Mexican or Chinese food, but I still think Mister Softee is always worth a painful trip to the restroom.” 

Liam McFadyen ‘24 said, “I think that [VHS] should make the [Mister Softee] truck come every day of the week. I would like it if [the school] brought in all the food trucks in town. Make it a food truck party. I’m a hungry dude. What can I say?”

It is possible for VHS to see more food trucks in the future, Botello said, “[Bringing new food trucks after school] would be awesome. Clubs, campus-wide organizations and sports teams are more than welcome to fundraise through a food truck after school. The food trucks do have to go through a district approval process prior to sales or access at campus events.” 

The Mister Softee company has over 625 trucks along with multiple stores and 350 franchise dealers in 18 states. In October 2015, Mister Softee opened in Southern California. In Southern California, Mister Softee has five trucks and two retail stores. One store is in Camarillo, and the newer one is open in East Ventura.

The company was founded in 1956 in Philadelphia. Their company is ranked number seven on Franchisechatter’s “The 25 Best Ice Cream, Frozen Yogurt and Other Frozen Dessert Franchises of 2023.” 

Since 1958, their headquarters have been in Runnemede, New Jersey. The company is run by the Conway family, co-owned by Jim Conway Jr. and John Conway.

Whenever students are hungry or craving ice cream after school on most Wednesday afternoons, they can stop by the senior lawn to pick up soft-serve ice cream.