This year’s Miracle Treat Day at the “Busiest Dairy Queen on Earth” has the added challenge of happening on the first day of school in Jones County.
Miracle Treat Day has become somewhat of a holiday in the Gray and Jones County community, and Dairy Queen owner Justin Kelly is not letting the challenge of school beginning on the July 31 Miracle Treat Day dampen his determination one bit.
His Facebook page is filled with the rallying cry for the goal of once again raising $100,000 for the Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital in Macon.
“Each year, DQ of Gray has the honor of working alongside lots of volunteers, hundreds of givers, and dozens of the most giving, genuine business owners in Central Georgia to raise the most money possible,” he said. “The money is used solely to make these sick children as comfortable as possible while under care at the hospital.”
Miracle Treat Day is unique in Gray because every penny received by the restaurant that day goes to the Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital.
Kelly pledged to give daily information about how to help and he is true to his word. Information on the page includes how to make donations, of course, but also how to volunteer and participate up to the day of the event.
The Facebook page is under the name Justin Kelly and includes a giving link that makes it extremely simple to donate.
Kelly has also been giving shout-outs to the local businesses partnering in the Miracle Treat Day effort on Facebook. That includes partners Amber and Eric Ayers Real Estate, Avery Communities LLC, 1st Choice Heating & Air, Storage at Crossway, AA Action Fence Company, Andrews Hammock & Powell Inc., H & H Body Shop, One Stop Auto Sales, M&M Towing and Recovery, Rancher’s, Suds Bucket, Scooter’s Coffee, The Factory Sports Training, Pitts Electric, West Clinton Tire, Volume Chevrolet, Marler’s Plumbing Service, Middle Georgia Electric, Payne Mill Antique Mall, Wilson Bryant Air Conditioning and new partners Vineville Internal Medicine and Honey Heating and Air. Those are just a start with more dedicated partners being recognized several times a day.
Kelly is the driving force behind the fundraiser. He took the idea of Miracle Treat Day and ran with it. While other restaurants donate a dollar for each blizzard sold on Miracle Treat Day, Kelly has donated 100 percent of the day’s receipts since 2021.
Last year, the communities of Gray and Jones County raised $150,809. That was a huge increase over the $91,000 in 2023 and $80,000 the previous years, but it will not stop there.
The owner explained 30 local businesses pledged to match the 2024 collections for the local restaurant’s busiest hour. He said because many of those businesses were small, he capped their obligation to $2,000. The busiest hour July 26, 2024, turned out to be from 5 p.m.-6 p.m. with the collections for the hour $3,700. Kelly said most of the businesses ended up sending in the full amount, and then three additional businesses signed on and sent in their money.
At the conclusion of the 2024 fundraiser, the total funds donated to the children’s hospital since 2021 totaled over $400,000. After taking a tour of the hospital following last year’s check presentation, Kelly said there is no plan to slow down.
“I can definitely see the possibility of us raising $1 million for the kids over the next five years,” Kelly stated.
