Zoe (Chun de la Cruz) Green ’00

Thanks to votes from the public, a Windward Oahu woman has been named “Joy Driver of the Year.”

Zoe Green, a licensed pharmacist and special education teacher, is being praised for her good work in the community.

She runs a non-profit producing soaps, teas and other goodies, and is her neighborhood ice cream vendor.

Her operations are simple: A generator and small chest freezer hooked up to her bicycle.

Sheʻs become so beloved in her community that she became a finalist in the national competition, put on by Good Humor.

Green was announced as the winner last Thursday. Go Jr. Bows.

The prize includes a $20,000 grant to support her operations.

Licensed pharmacist Zoe Green admits she wasn’t very fond of school, and yet she works in one as a special education teacher.

“It felt claustrophobic for me when I was a student so I was very happy to be out of there,” she said. “But the universe and karma have a funny way of putting you right back in those places.”

The same applies to what the Kahaluu resident takes on in her spare time.

She runs her own non-profit that produces soaps, teas and other goodies — and because there was no ice cream vendor in her community, she became one.

“Just banding together and coming together in your neighborhood is dissolving a little bit at a time as the years go by. I feel like if you just give one more thing for the kids in the community to look forward to, it will build a lot of momentum,” she said.

She didn’t have a truck, but she did have an electric bicycle and a plan that she set in motion a couple of years ago on a hot summer day.

“I hooked up a trailer because I was just curious. I wonder if it can hold a generator and a small chest freezer? Let’s just go give out ice cream to the kids in the neighborhood,” she said.

The ice cream lady was an instant hit, and that started off a schedule of selling Good Humor ice cream throughout her neighborhood on weekends and holidays.

But nothing about her setup screams ice cream vendor.

“Nothing is decorated,” Zoe said. “I don’t have an ice cream man hat, uniform, or apron or anything.”

That didn’t stop the giant ice cream company Good Humor from selecting her as one of five finalists in its annual Neighborhood Joy contest.

“I thought it was a long shot because Hawaii’s so small compared to the other states in the U.S. All the other concessions are fully functioning established ice cream truck vendors,” she said.

Now that Zoe has won the $20,000 grand prize, she knows exactly how she’ll spend the money.

“Absolutely invest in something that is not a bicycle,” she said with a laugh.

“As great as electric bicycles are how much things have advanced, I want something that I could go to the next town and the next town.”

More than 200 ice cream truck vendors from across the U.S. entered Good Humor’s contest. Hawaii’s representative rides a bicycle and she’s right there at the finish line.