By Stephanie Samuel

Sentinel Staff Writer

April 30 was not a particularly warm day, but it was sunny. That's all Prince George's County residents needed as they lined up outside 13 participating Baskin-Robbins ice cream shops from 5 to 10 p.m. for 31-cent scoops.

Outside the Greenbelt Baskin-Robbins at 5:30 p.m., an emerging crowd of over 30 people from teens with school IDs still hanging from their necks to adults still wearing their work suits waited in a line that went out the door.

Among them was Daniel Nat-Daves, who heard about the deal from his wife. He explained his Wednesday night splurge saying, "Today is hump day" – that is, a hump between the start of the week and the weekend, he explained – "I usually get [my family] what [they] want because [they're] not going to get it Thursday or Friday." That night his daughter got two scoops and his wife, four scoops.

As the crowd continued to grow, few knew why the chain was being so generous. Not even Eleanor Roosevelt High School student Gloria Industrious, who heard about the event at school, knew the reason behind the event. She left her mother Gleeanzah Industrious napping in the car and waited in line for a half an hour just for a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

"After a while I thought it wasn't worth it," she said

Oh, but it was. The Baskin-Robbins 31-cent Scoop Night is in honor of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. The foundation, based in Emmitsburg, has been in existence since 1992 and helps the families and co-workers of firefighters killed in the line of duty. The 31-cent scoop night is featured in Baskin-Robbins throughout the country to benefit the foundation.

This is the third year for the event, Greenbelt Baskin-Robbins Manager Wasi Mohammed Ansari said. He says the event brings more and more people. Last year he said 800 people turned out to the Greenbelt store. This year 200 showed up within the first hour. At that rate, Ansari said he would have 1,000 customers by promotion's end.

"It's exciting. There's a lot of new people," he said.

Even more exciting is the contribution that Baskin-Robbins corporate office makes to the fund on behalf of its customers — $100,000. Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department Spokesman Mark Brady said that money goes to support an annual weekend workshop held the third weekend in October for victim's families.

"They talk to other survivors from previous years, they go to trainings [to receive grief counseling] and there's memorial services," he said.

In the October 2004 workshop, a memorial service was held for Prince George's County Fire Medic Nadar Hamette. Hamette was killed in an auto accident in December 2003 after leaving a department-sponsored training session. While Hamette was not fighting a blaze at the time of his death, Brady explained that since he was in uniform, his death was considered to be one in line of duty. Hamette's parents and siblings participated in the 2004 survivors workshop.

Brady says that local firefighters also receive several safety trainings from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation throughout the year. He says that firefighters in the county firefighters feel a close connection to the foundation. Former county fire chief Ron Siarnicki serves as the foundation's executive director. Brady says many county firefighters also give their time to the organization.

"We certainly have a lot of firefighters that regularly volunteer," he said.

Because of that, Brady says the department is certainly appreciative of the Baskins-Robbins partnership.

"It was a fantastic offer," he said.

Contact Stephanie Samuel at

ssamuel@thesentinel.com

Photo by Marketa Ebert