![](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/dairy-queen-ice-cream.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
First free donuts, then free pancakes, now free ice cream: Dairy Queen is saying goodbye to winter with its Free Cone Day four days before the official start of spring.
The company is celebrating its 75th anniversary on the 75th day of the calendar year (March 16) by offering one small vanilla soft-service to customers free of charge at participating locations, People reports. But Dairy Queen is hoping that customers use those extra dollars saved for a good cause: DQ will be asking for donations to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals that day.
“This is all about connecting with our fans and not just about telling them, but showing them how much we appreciate their loyalty,” Dairy Queen’s executive vice president of marketing, Barry Westrum, said in a statement.
[People]
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Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com