Woman who scooped first scoop at ice cream store returns to scoop 1 millionth scoop

Paul Tamburello opened Little Man Ice Cream, named after his father, in Denver in 2008.

Inspired by vintage Coney Island hotdog-shaped stands and roadside-monument nostalgia, Tamburello built his shop within a 28-foot-tall, 14,000-pound cream can.

"I went there just a couple nights ago. Waited 20 minutes in line for the best ice cream of my life," wrote Reddit user thatmillerkid.

"Little Man is the best ice cream I've ever had, it's a bonus that the staff is made up of really awesome people!" wrote pookierawrz.

Last night, the shop celebrated its 1 millionth scoop.

On hand to dish out that milestone scoop was Tamburello's 90-year-old mother, Elaine, who had served the first scoop on opening day.

Reddit user btongninja was working at Little Man Ice Cream last night:

"It's a celebration, the millionth scoop happened earlier in the week but Paul — the owner — wanted to make an event out of it," he wrote. "What this picture doesn't show is the multiple philanthropic organizations that were invited and set up booths, the live jazz band, the documentary playing on our patio about Cambodian sex trade, the bouncy castle (LM set up out of pocket), and the drawing contest to win free ice cream and other prizes."

He added: "I love my job because of the way we are treated and how the business treats it's customers: like people."

Reddit user Johnny Rebb "happened to be there" for the 1-millionth-scoop celebration.

"They're a pretty neat business. For every scoop sold, they donate 1 scoop of rice or bean to one of a handful of world hunger organizations," he wrote.

According to the official website, Little Man Ice Cream's Scoop for Scoop program is the shop's "backbone."

"For every scoop of ice cream purchased, Little Man matches that scoop with a donated scoop of rice or beans to a community in need somewhere in the world. Little Man has delivered to communities in Peru, Africa. Most recently, Little Man had donated over 22,000 lbs of rice and 400 pairs of shoes in communities in Cambodia," the shop posted.