June 29, 2023 / By mobanmarket
FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — When you go to Jake’s Ice Cream in Barcroft Plaza, many of the employees making the ice cream in house and serving customers will be people with disabilities. That opportunity to work as a team and develop workforce skills may not have been possible without the vision of owner Robin Rinearson.
On Wednesday, Rinearson received the Eleanor Sue Finkelstein Inclusion & Disabilities Award from the Pozez Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia. Employees and parents of employees were on hand to cheer Rinearson on as she accepted the award at the JCC’s annual membership meeting.
Jake’s Ice Cream opened in August 2021 at 6353 Columbia Pike, Falls Church, VA. Rinearson, a now-retired optometrist, opened the shop in collaboration with her brother, whose son Jake has cerebral palsy. Rinearson wanted to make Jake’s Ice Cream Shop a place to employ people like Jake, who didn’t receive proper accommodations by employers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The shop initially employed 11 people and now has around 30 employees, 24 of whom are people with disabilities. At the shop, Rinearson seeks to give them confidence by teaching them to make ice cream and fulfill other duties in the shop.
Adam Toobin, a greeter at Jake’s Ice Cream, shared with Patch how Rinearson’s business has made a positive impact.
“I love greeting and welcoming customers because I’m a pretty social person,” Toobin told Patch. “But being responsible for Jake’s social media has taught me all new skills. I appreciate the trust Robin has placed in me. She knows I can do it.”
The Eleanor Sue Finkelstein Award is named after Eleanor Sue Finkelstein, a Pozez JCC co-founder who spearheaded outreach to the special needs community. Finkelstein died in 2010, but her legacy lives on with an award given each year to a community member who”demonstrates exceptional commitment to Northern Virginia’s special needs community through service, leadership and program development,” according to Pozez JCC’s awards committee chair Debbie Kessler.
“Robin is changing the lives of people with disabilities. She has single-handedly created employment opportunities for these adults in our community of Northern Virginia through her workforce development,” said Kessler. “She provides her employees with meaningful jobs in a community-based environment where they not only earn a paycheck, but also gain confidence as valued members of a team.”
Kessler said Rinearson also provides expertise to business and legislative leaders as an employer with disabilities and encourages other employers to hire people with disabilities.
Along with running Jake’s Ice Cream, Rinearson is working to open Jake’s Gourmet Popcorn at the Seven Corners Center. Rinearson is working to get equipment for the shop and get construction finished. An opening date has not yet been announced, but she’s already hired 10 people and plans to start practicing how to make the popcorn with them.
In remarks, Rinearson said the award isn’t about her but rather the employees, their parents, her family and the community.
“Our motto at the ice cream parlor is that you’re not just buying ice cream,” said Rinearson. “You’re employing a wonderful group of differently abled people. There isn’t anything that these young people can’t do or can’t learn to do. And I can’t be more proud of all of them.”
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