Whangārei dairy owner gives a perfect scoop of happiness to rest home residents

Jane Mander Retirement Village residents enjoying their big scoops of ice cream. Photo / Supplied

A big free scoop of boysenberry ice cream; it's a win-win for everyone.

A group of six residents and two staff from Jane Mander Retirement Village were on one of their regular Tuesday van trips when One Tree Point Dairy shop owner offered them unlimited scoops of ice cream on the house.

Dairy owner Nilesh Patel has been living in New Zealand for over 12 years and says giving back to the elderly community is one way of feeling closer to his parents, who live in India.

"It's been a long time since I visited my parents and I cannot visit them since the borders are closed due to Covid.

"It makes me really happy to do something for the elderly community and a smile on their faces just makes me feel closer to my family."

Although Patel's wife and 8-year-old used to visit India every year before the New Zealand borders were closed because of Covid-19, he was still not able to travel with them so frequently.

"I have to be present here because of the business and the last time I saw my family in India was in 2018.

"My wife and daughter really miss visiting the relatives."

One Tree Point Store owner Nilesh Patel. Photo / Supplied

Patel started his dairy in 2013 and since then he would offer free ice cream to anyone visiting from the retirement village.

"We have a saying in India, 'Atithi Devo Bhava', which means a guest is equal to the supreme lord and he visits us in different forms.

"I believe in spreading smiles in any capacity that I can. I do not make donations in a temple, but if I can make them smile or happy, it serves the purpose."

Rest home activities coordinator Jazz Phillips said they were blown away by the owner's kindness and generosity.

"We went into the store to select ice cream flavours for the residents and asked how much would a scoop cost.

"He said he wanted to give ice cream on the house. His family is back in India and he could not visit them due to Covid, this was his way of giving back to the elderly.

"It was such a lovely day and this gesture made the residents really smile."

The residents were stuck in their bubbles during the level 4 and 3 alert levels and weren't allowed to go on regular van trips.

"This was only their second outing since the lockdown."

Phillips said they went past a dairy while going on their first van trip towards Tutukaka.

"There were people walking out of that dairy with ice cream cones and I promised them that we were going to get ice cream during our next trip.

"They were so happy and we did not even spend a single dollar.

"He asked us to call him next time we visited the area so he could also arrange some fish n chips for the elderly," marvelled Phillips.