The sweet smell of freshly baked waffle cones invites you into the store, and you glance up at the list of funky ice cream flavors: Cherry Garcia, Phish Food, Chunky Monkey. Your stomach growls with anticipation as a young woman behind the counter in a tie-died "Cherry Garcia" T-shirt cheerfully asks, "May I help you?" This Ben and Jerry's in downtown Austin, Texas, may look, smell, and sound like every other one, but there's one difference: Many of the teenage employees are runaways from abusive homes who are getting a second chance in life thanks to 13-year-old Zach Solomon.

When Zach learned about the partnership between Ben and Jerry's and Life Works--an Austin-based organization that provides job training to at-risk youth--he realized that he had found a way to improve his community. The thought of helping kids who have their whole future in front of them was more tempting to Zach than a double scoop of Mint Chocolate Cookie, his favorite flavor. "When you're helping teens, they could have 50 years or more to do great things," says Zach. "They can change the world, but they can't do it living on the streets."

Zach met with Life Works officials in late 2004, and they explained the economic challenges of opening the special scoop shop. Undaunted, Zach sprang into action. He launched a fundraising web site, published a letter in his synagogue bulletin asking for donations, and e-mailed family, friends, and community members requesting contributions. His cousin, who co-founded the nonprofit organization Funding Passion and Love, pledged that the organization would match donations 2-to-1. That meant that every dollar someone donated would bring Life Works $3 closer to opening the job-training shop. Much to Zach's surprise, by his bar mitzvah weekend in May--which coincided with the grand opening of the store--he had raised $20,000. "I look back and see what I've done, and I'm amazed," he says.

But Zach was yet to receive his biggest surprise: Ben and Jerry's co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield showed up at his bar mitzvah! Ben was called to the Torah for an aliyah, and Jerry spoke from the bimah, thanking Zach for all his work. Zach views his mitzvah project as an act of tikkun olam (repairing the world)), because it gives at-risk kids a fair shake in the world. "We're giving them as good of a chance to succeed as any other kid. It doesn't matter how wealthy they are or how good of an education they have. They're getting a second chance for success.

"In a way, it's saving kids' lives," says Zach with pride. "You're giving kids a life rather than them going nowhere." Zach benefited, too. He received a wonderful feeling of satisfaction--not just from all the free ice cream--but from knowing that "I've done something right," he says. "I'm helping these kids become better people. I'm helping the future."