Gainesville’s Cold Stone Creamery shops are partnering with Gift Certificates and More (GCM) to scoop away free ice cream on Sunday, July 21, for National Ice Cream Day. 

Anyone with the GCM app downloaded on their phone can get two free scoops of any flavor with a choice of Oreo, caramel, fudge or sprinkle toppings. Both Archer Road and Newberry Road locations are participating in the event from noon to 8 p.m. 

“If I was a kid, I would spend the night in the Cold Stone parking lot to get free ice cream,” GCM founder Edward Lavagnino said. “It’s my favorite holiday of the year.” 

Americans have been celebrating July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday in July as National Ice Cream Day for 40 years. Former president Ronald Reagan made the designations in 1984, writing in Proclamation 5219: “Ice cream is a nutritious and wholesome food, enjoyed by over ninety percent of the people in the United States…I call upon the people of the United States to observe these events with appropriate ceremonies and activities.” 

The International Dairy Foods Association reported that ice cream makers in the U.S. churned out 1.3 billion gallons of the creamy treat in 2023. Around 9 percent of dairy in the U.S. is made into ice cream, which helps supply the 20 pounds—or four gallons—of ice cream the average American consumes every year. 

Lavagnino first teamed up with Cold Stone to give away free ice cream for National Ice Cream Day in 2018 as a way to thank GCM members and give back to the community by benefitting businesses. In previous years, the offer was only one scoop. But Lavagnino said with two scoops and toppings in the mix, they’re expecting to give away between 1,500 and 2,000 scoops of ice cream this year. 

“We wanted to make it a no brainer [to get ice cream],” he said. “We’re going to throw in Oreos. That’s my love language.” 

For National Ice Cream Day on July 21, Lavagnino will be at the Cold Stone location at 3822 Newberry Road, and GCM’s Andrew Wells will be at the location at 3443 SW Archer Road. They’ll be handing out free ice cream coupons redeemable after downloading the GCM app. 

“It’s not like going to your grandma’s house with generic ice cream flavors,” Lavagnino said. “Getting together with Cold Stone makes [National Ice Cream Day] that much better.”