Thelma’s Treats CEO Returns to High School to 'Give Back'

Dereck Lewis, the CEO of Thelma's Treats, paid a special visit to his old stomping grounds at Hampton-Dumont High School on Tuesday, Dec. 2 to hand out free ice cream sandwiches during the basketball games.

The 2004 H-D grad told the Chronicle that he wanted to give back to the community, which is why he said yes when invited to attend by his former teacher and coach Keith Walton.

How it all began: After graduating from Iowa State in 2008, with a degree in business management, Lewis began delivering warm cookies and milk to people around the Des Moines Metro area.

He had realized that hot cookies didn't sell as well in the summer, so he decided to add ice cream to the mix, smooshing a scoop of ice cream in between two of his homemade cookies, which he made with his grandma Thelma's secret recipe. The ice cream sandwiches were a hit, so they began selling them at the farmers market in downtown Des Moines in the spring of 2012 — the beginning of his business.



After the success at the farmers market, they expanded their business to their first grocery store, Hy-Vee, which came with great results.

After finding out they could do it at one grocery store, they figured they could do it at others.

Now the business has expanded to have about one hundred employees and a production facility in Des Moines, where they make all the products for Thelma's brand, as well as others.