Gray Dairy Queen tops nation, raises $150k for Children’s Miracle Network

Imagine a day when everybody is screaming for ice cream.

The line inside the Dairy Queen wraps around the dining room like a vanilla swirl.

Imagine a traffic jam at the drive-thru that loops around the parking lot and down Gray Highway for more than a quarter-mile to Lite-N-Tie Road.

Imagine folks digging deep in their pockets to give to a worthy cause, and local business owners opening their hearts – and their checkbooks.

Justin Kelly, owner of the Dairy Queen Grill and Chill in Gray, has not only imagined that day, he has lived it on the last Thursday of July for the past four years.

July 25 was national Miracle Treat Day, where proceeds from sales of Dairy Queen’s popular Blizzard frozen treats go to support the Children’s Miracle Network. Over the past 40 years, the network has raised more than $9 billion for 170 children’s hospitals, including the Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital at Atrium Health Navicent in Macon.

Justin said a typical DQ franchise might expect to raise between $1,000 and $1,500 on Miracle Treat Day.

His restaurant has raised the Dilly Bar, so to speak.

“We don’t just give all our Blizzard money that day,’’ he said. “We give every cent of what we sell.’’

Yes, every penny, nickel and dime that went through the cash register was an offering to the Children’s Miracle Network. And the 72 employees, many of them making minimum wage, worked extra shifts to make it happen, then donated their wages.

Justin had set a goal of $100,000 for this year’s Blizzard blitz. As of this week, he is still counting. The latest figure was $150,809.25.

(For the record, 5,871 Blizzards were sold in Gray that day. There were 3,889 pre-orders, and 1,982 were sold at the store.)

Over the past four years, the Gray DQ has brought in $404,157.06. That’s $14 for every man, woman and child in Jones County.

Since 2021, the DQ in Gray has ranked No. 1 nationally in donations, and Justin has been recognized with a red jacket by the Children’s Miracle Network. That’s like winning the coveted green jacket at Augusta National. If he keeps it up, he might need more closet space.

Folks in Jones County know the 38-year-old hometown boy could sell ice to an Eskimo. So, of course, he could sell ice cream to most everyone with a sweet tooth from Haddock to Round Oak, and Griswoldville to Greene Settlement Road.

Since his days at Jones County High School, he has been quite the entrepreneur. He cut grass for almost every teacher and coach at the school. He sold wheels and tires in college. He later started his own asphalt company in Macon and was general manager of a body shop. He was recognized nationally as one of the top sales agents in the country at GEICO.

One of his ambitions was to own an eating establishment in Gray. He inquired about a Chick-fil-A and two other chicken franchises, but his efforts were unsuccessful.

“They ran the numbers for Gray, and every one of them turned me down,’’ he said.

He graduated from high school in 2004, the same year they opened the Dairy Queen on West Clinton Street. It was built on the same patch of ground where the town’s Tastee Freeze once stood.

At the time, “Grill and Chill” was a new concept for DQ, and the Gray franchise was only the third of its kind in the U.S. He jumped at the chance to purchase the restaurant when it became available in November 2020.

“I knew this had been a hub of our community for a long time,’’ he said. “It was consistent, a place where everybody could hang out after church on Wednesday nights or after the football games on Fridays.’’

For the first six months, he could not open the dining room because of COVID and mandated mask policies. His wife, Stacie, and daughter, Aspen, who was 6 at the time, went through the drive-thru at least once a day just to see him.

He said he became a Christian when he was a senior in high school. It was transformational in his life journey.

“When I was saved, I was surrounded by givers, and I saw the power of giving and being a light in the community,’’ he said. “I wanted to be a person with a giving heart. Buying the Dairy Queen equipped me in every way to be able to be that person.’’

Because of COVID, the Miracle Treat Day was moved from July to October in 2021. Emma Moseley, a 16-year-old student at Jones County High, had been diagnosed with metastatic Ewing’s sarcoma in February 2020 and was an ambassador for the Children’s Miracle Network.

“She died a month before Miracle Treat Day,’’ Justin said. “Something got to me, and I told everyone we would try to raise $50,000 in her honor.’’

It was an ambitious goal. But, on his first Miracle Treat Day, Justin spearheaded the efforts and raised $80,457.55. He followed up with $81, 077.25 in 2022 and $91,813 last year.

“It isn’t about me,’’ he said. “It’s about rallying what we call ‘Our Town.’ It’s about motivating and helping everybody work together to do something good.’’