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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Leighanna, Doug Ducey

Aired July 07, 2002 - 08:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to talk about a little ice cream dream for a little girl who is battling leukemia. Seven- year-old Leighanna was granted her wish for a trip to Disneyworld, and now, another wish -- her own ice cream creation, thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation and an ice cream maker called Cold Stone Creamery.

Joining us this morning, Leighanna, and the president and CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, Doug Ducey. Good morning to you two.

DOUG DUCEY, PRES., CEO, COLD STONE CREAMERY: Good morning. Thanks for having us on.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely. Hey, you guys brought ice cream, too. That's a good thing. You know the way to everybody's heart around here, don't you, Lee Anna? All right, why don't you tell me, how are you feeling?

LEIGHANNA: Good.

PHILLIPS: What have you learned about leukemia? How are you keeping yourself healthy?

LEIGHANNA: By not eating hard food.

PHILLIPS: Yeah.

LEIGHANNA: And sometimes I forget about it, and then I go play.

PHILLIPS: So you're keeping a positive attitude? How is Disneyworld? I understand that was your first wish. Was that fun? Yeah? Did you meet Mickey Mouse?

LEIGHANNA: Yes.

PHILLIPS: What else? Who else did you meet?

LEIGHANNA: Minnie Mouse.

PHILLIPS: Wow. Do you remember what they said to you?

LEIGHANNA: No. But they gave me a kiss.

PHILLIPS: They gave you a kiss? Oh, my goodness. Hey, we are looking at videotape right now. Now, is that the tea cup ride? No, wait a minute. What ride is that?

LEIGHANNA: That's -- that's like a little ball place.

PHILLIPS: You push the little machine and little balls pop up, right?

LEIGHANNA: Yeah.

PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh, that looks like so much fun. What else did you do at Disneyworld?

LEIGHANNA: That's Universal.

PHILLIPS: Oh, this is Universal Studios? Oh, my goodness.

LEIGHANNA: We went down on Monday.

PHILLIPS: You've done it all, haven't you? Oh, my goodness. All right. So you've been to Disneyworld, you've been to Universal Studios. Now, you like ice cream, don't you? Yeah? How come you like ice cream so much?

LEIGHANNA: Because it tastes good.

PHILLIPS: Yeah, it does taste good. So, how did you pitch your recipe to Cold Stone Creamery?

LEIGHANNA: Ticket (ph)?

PHILLIPS: Pitch it, sell it, sell the idea.

LEIGHANNA: I don't know.

PHILLIPS: Maybe Doug can help us on that. Doug Ducey, hey there, good morning.

DUCEY: Good morning to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, we are going to brag about the ice cream here and the recipe, but tell us about this connection with Make a Wish and with Cold Stone Creamery and met Leighanna?

DUCEY: Sure. Well, July is National Ice Cream Month, and we were looking for a charity to partner up with. And Make a Wish just turned out to be the perfect charity for Cold Stone Creamery to partner up with during National Ice Cream Month.

PHILLIPS: And so, did you ever -- putting business aside, obviously you've got to make money. It's very important to start this business on the right foot. When you met Leighanna and you see the other kids in the Cold Stone Creamery, did you ever realize what ice cream does for kids? I mean, how much joy it brings to them?

DUCEY: Well, as a parent myself and with my two boys watching this morning, and to see how kids come into the store and how they enjoy the ice cream, anything we do with charity always involves children. And with Make a Wish and what they do, and create wishes for children, whether it would be going to Disneyland or being a rock star for the day or creating your own ice cream recipe for a national promotion, was the perfect fit for us as a charity, and it's just been a lot of fun and gotten our entire franchise community behind Leighanna and Make a Wish so that we can make these wishes come true for more and more children.

PHILLIPS: Well, and we see Leighanna here making her recipe. All right, Leighanna, tell me now -- I love it, you're smiling. Isn't it cool to see yourself on TV? Look at that. All right, how did you make it? Tell me how you made the recipe? What's in there?

LEIGHANNA: A lot of ice cream and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and kit-kat fudge.

PHILLIPS: Oh, go ahead -- you made one for me, didn't you?

LEIGHANNA: Yeah.

PHILLIPS: Gosh, that looks good. Thank you. All right, what else is in there? We've got a little fudge, we've got a little kit- kat, a little ice cream...

LEIGHANNA: Fudge is on the bottom.

PHILLIPS: All right. Am I allowed to taste it?

LEIGHANNA: Yeah.

PHILLIPS: Wow, that's awesome. What kind of cone is this?

LEIGHANNA: That's chocolate.

PHILLIPS: Chocolate waffle cone? OK, so do you expect to become a millionaire, because this is pretty good. Are you going to make big bucks off that?

LEIGHANNA: I guess.

PHILLIPS: You don't care about that, do you?

DUCEY: Kyra, we do hope to make a lot of money for Make a Wish, and we'll celebrating National Ice Cream month every Cold Stone Creamery -- over 250 across the United States -- for the entire month of July. And on July 11, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., we will be giving away Kyra's Make a Wish creation.

PHILLIPS: My Make a Wish? You mean Leighanna?

DUCEY: I'm sorry, Leighanna's Make a Wish...

PHILLIPS: Don't worry. I'm not stealing your thunder. I promise.

DUCEY: Leighanna's Make a Wish creation from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at all Cold Stone Creameries, and we'll be accepting donations from the customers, 100 percent of which will go to benefit Make a Wish.

PHILLIPS: Leighanna, tell us about Make a Wish. Why is it so important for people to donate to Make a Wish and go and buy your ice cream to raise more money?

LEIGHANNA: Because the kids, they need the money to go -- because Make a Wish needs money for the other kids to go do the wishes.

PHILLIPS: Yeah, wishes are pretty important, aren't they? So you got your wish, didn't you?

What gave you the idea for this recipe? How did you design your recipe?

LEIGHANNA: Shelley (ph), a girl from Make a Wish, called us and she sent it on the computer, and I got it.

PHILLIPS: Wow. When you found out that you got it, what did you do?

LEIGHANNA: I was happy.

PHILLIPS: Did you get all excited?

LEIGHANNA: Yeah.

PHILLIPS: Now, your little teddy bear here, you got that here in Atlanta, didn't you? Why don't you show the viewers your little teddy bear? Is that giving you a little support? Does that make you feel a little more comfortable today?

LEIGHANNA: Yeah.

PHILLIPS: All right, look at that. Maybe the teddy bear can have a little bit of the ice cream.

All right, so when can folks come and order Leighanna's recipe? Can they go today? I know -- because the Cold Stone Creameries are all across the U.S., right?

DUCEY: All across the U.S., and to find the location closest to you, you can check it out at Coldstone.com. They can come in the entire month of July, and this will be featured. It will be free July 11 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., and any ice cream purchase from any of the 250 Cold Stone Creameries for the entire month of July will go to benefit the Make a Wish organization.

PHILLIPS: Oh, it's so great. Doug Ducey, thank you.

DUCEY: Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: Leighanna, we are so proud of you. Thanks for being here with us. Are you going to leave this with me? No, you're going to take it?

LEIGHANNA: I wanted to show my dad. He's not here. He's in California.

PHILLIPS: So you're going to take the ice cream home to give daddy?

LEIGHANNA: You can have it.

PHILLIPS: I can have it? OK, I'll keep it right here. I'll let all the guys here sample it. Does that sound all right? All right. I'm so glad you're feeling better. You look terrific. Will come back and visit us again when you come back with your next recipe?

LEIGHANNA: OK.

PHILLIPS: OK, good. Leighanna, thank you so much. Doug, thank you.

DUCEY: Thank you.

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