On Tuesday, June 24, Max’s Best Ice Cream had its grand opening in Bethesda. Max’s Best Ice Cream is an upscale, dine-in ice cream shop featuring an inventive menu of artisan ice cream creations.
The owners, Angela Alexander and Cory Alexander, shared, “This is a passion project; we wanted to do some good and create opportunities in the community.” Yet, their seemingly simple passion project holds a deeper backstory: “[It’s] named after our son Max, who has Down syndrome, and we did this as an opportunity to create employment for those just like Max.”
Their goal is to employ individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through the Best Buddies Jobs program. Best Buddies also co-owns Max’s Best Ice Cream, in which 20% of all profits from every customer’s purchase will help to further Best Buddies’ work in the local community. “[Our goal is to] create a place of belonging, a community, where everyone can come and is welcome,” said Alexander. When asked to describe Max’s Best Ice Cream in one word, she said, “Happiness, it’s ice cream! Our rule is you have to walk out of here happier than when you came in, and that’s why we put a cherry on top of everything, because it’s happiness.”
