DES MOINES, Iowa — A local ice cream maker has surpassed her fundraising goal to open a shop in the Highland Park neighborhood.

Since 2022 Beth Mensing has been trying to turn a vacant location at the corner of Euclid Avenue and 6th Avenue into her very own ice cream shop, Scoops by Beth, but she’s been struggling to get a loan to make that dream a reality.

Mensing created a capital campaign on Kickstarter to raise money and reach her goal of $35,000 to open the shop. The catch — she had to raise that money in 60 days or the money would be returned to donators. While Mensing said she would still open a shop if she didn’t reach the goal, the $35,000 would be a major help.

In about two weeks the donations began to pile up and with the help of one individual pledging a match of up to $3,000 for one day, Mensing reached her fundraising goal.

Mensing said the main reason she’s able to go after her dream is because of the supportive community surrounding her.

“I wouldn’t have gone for it if I didn’t feel like I could accomplish that,” she said. “It helps to have, even though I may not have business partners and someone to kind of share the household expenses with, like, I do have a really strong community of family and friends that I can either call on to help me make ice cream, to help me sell, to do whatever it is that I ask. They’ve been just, people have been really great and wonderful and supportive for me.”

The fundraiser will be open until Wednesday morning. As of Monday, it’s raised over $37,000. Mensing said she hopes to have the ice cream shop open sometime in summer 2025.

Metro News: