JOPLIN, Mo. – Eight-year-old Vincent Wilkowski couldn’t stop grinning Tuesday morning as he created his very own Blizzard Treat – Oreo chunks and extra strawberries – inside the Joplin Dairy Queen® Grill & Chill on 32nd Street. 

The 2024 Freeman CMN Champion even turned the delicious concoction upside down moments later, showing everyone that it wouldn’t spill, before spooning in the first mouthful. And the second. And the third.

The fun ritual demonstrates how the iconic ice-cold treat can help children receive the best medical care possible thanks to an ongoing partnership between Dairy Queen and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, in which Freeman is the only CMN Hospital found in a 70-mile radius.

During Miracle Treat Day this Thursday, July 25, $1 or more from every purchased Blizzard from the Joplin location and other local DQ restaurants will be donated to Freeman. 

“We are grateful for the partnership CMN has with Dairy Queen,” said Laura Gullett, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Program Coordinator at Freeman. “They raise funds through sales with special events like Miracle Treat Day; these funds help us provide the best healthcare possible to our local kids.” 

Since Freeman’s partnership with Dairy Queen launched in 2004, local DQ stores have raised $149,023. Last year, $5,988 was raised.

Vincent was born at 36 weeks with Bilaterial Clubfoot deformities and Distal Hand Arthrogryposis and was forced to wear his first sets of casts at just five days old. After six years of multiple surgeries, he is finally seeing some relief, with Ankle-Foot Orthoses braces helping him walk and keeping his feet straight.

“CMN is important to us because with their help, Vincent can be the most independent child he can be,” said Vincent’s mother, Tracy Wilkowski. “With partners like Dairy Queen, CMN is able to help us with whatever Vincent needs and this makes him able to live the best life possible.”

Along with Blizzard sale donations throughout the day, additional funds will be generated from the annual Dairy Queen Car Show taking place in the parking lot behind the DQ store. The car show begins at 5:30 pm. 

“CMN holds importance for me due to its ability to unite individuals within our community and bring attention to a noble cause,” Joplin DQ Store Manager Debbie Schacht said. 

Overall, CMN provides assistance to children from birth to 21 years of age in a 14-county area that includes Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. CMN helps furnish and maintain Freeman Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, provides funding for local community organizations’ pediatric needs and provides pediatric emergency equipment for area agencies.