Local ice cream shop Salt and Straw creates special flavor benefiting Portland Timbers Community Fund

A local ice cream shop has made a tradition of Portland Timbers-themed ice cream and donating part of the proceeds to the Portland Timbers Community Fund.

Kim Malek, the owner of Salt & Straw on NE Alberta, had the idea for Timbers ice cream last year. “We wanted to help mark what a terrific addition the team has been to the city and thought an official ice cream flavor that also gave back to the community would be a nice way to make that happen,” said Malek.

The shop’s ice cream makers and Malek created three different flavors to celebrate the team’s inaugural season in Major League Soccer in 2011. This past October, customers sampled each of the flavors and voted for their favorite. That collective crowd vote was counted as one point and then combined with the selections from a panel of judges which included Timber Joey, Timbers community ambassador Scot Thompson and Timbers COO Mike Golub among other local celebrities.

Lumberjack Stack, a maple ice cream made with homemade blueberry pancakes, was judged to be the winner and it was on the menu from mid-October to February.

A dollar for every scoop sold benefited youth education through the Portland Timbers Community Fund. During the four months it was featured, Salt & Straw raised nearly $1,500.

“We decided that we'd like to support youth education because we are lucky enough to constantly be surrounded by lovely families who come in to enjoy ice cream and it's a natural fit to give back to the kids and families who support us,” said Malek. “Our goal is to help support strong local communities through our donations such as these and programs we are working on with our local school's PTA.”

The second place ice cream from 2011, Bury Me in Green and Gold (made with Oregon mint, unrefined chocolate and hand-candied lemon zest), will be featured on the menu beginning March 26, 2012 with a percentage of the proceeds also benefitting youth education through the Portland Timbers Community Fund.