Health officials in Norwood, Massachusetts, ordered a 12-year-old boy to shut down his ice cream stand, citing a food code violation.

Danny Doherty and his mother, Nancy Doherty, established a stand that sold homemade ice cream.

Half of all proceeds earned from the ice cream stand, which served vanilla, shaved chocolate and fluffernutter, would go towards his brother’s hockey team.

Nancy Doherty encouraged her son’s pursuit as long as he donated half of the money to charity.

However, the Norwood Board of Health ordered the 12-year-old to shut down his stand after operating for one week.

Town officials said they received a complaint about the stand.

“I think the most disappointing part of that was that someone, one of our neighbors, somebody driving by, decided to take time to complain about a kid’s stand,” Nancy Doherty told Fox News Digital.

“I was surprised and upset,” Danny Doherty said, according to ABC News.

“I don’t understand because there are so many lemonade stands and they don’t get shut down,” he added.

“The Norwood Health Department has received a complaint that you are making and selling scooped ice cream and cookies at your residential property. The Massachusetts Food Code does not allow for the sale of ice cream made in the home. Please desist in these activities,” the letter stated, according to Libertas Institute President Connor Boyack.

“The community rallied behind Danny and fought back. Town officials claimed they got ‘hate mail’ and death threats. The founding fathers didn’t throw off the shackles of British tyranny in order to create a government where kids would be threatened with fines and jail time if they sold food on their front lawn,” Boyack wrote.

🧵 Meet 12-year-old Danny. He's holding a letter from the health department ordering him to shut down his ice cream stand.

The letter states: "The Norwood Health Department has received a complaint that you are making and selling scooped ice cream and cookies at your… pic.twitter.com/BMXIphh7Bd

— Connor Boyack 📚 (@cboyack) August 28, 2024

Per Fox News:

Danny Doherty loved the idea and worked with his mom to come up with various flavors for his “Tree Street Treats” stand.

The two made vanilla and shaved chocolate, plus cannoli and a New England fluffernutter.

Danny Doherty made his own business logo. He also created an Instagram account to advertise the sweets sale to family and friends.

“[My friends] thought it was fun. A good amount of people came down,” Danny Doherty told Fox News Digital.

Half of all proceeds were donated to the Boston Bears Club, a special education hockey team for kids.

“It’s my brother’s hockey team, it’s like a special hockey team … It’s where he goes and plays hockey,” Danny Doherty said.

After receiving the letter, the young entrepreneur decided to give away the ice cream and accept donations for the hockey team.

The fundraiser took off in the small town.

“In the end, about $20,000 was raised for the hockey team — more than the amount the club spends in an entire year. The infusion of funds should ensure the club will be on ‘sound financial footing’ for the next decade or more,” ABC News noted.

Residents raise $20k for boy (Danny Doherty) whose ice cream stand was shut down by town. He was raising money for the hockey team of autistic brother. This hockey team features players who have physical and developmental disabilities. pic.twitter.com/o4WYrFyVgz

— Restoring Your Faith in Humanity (@HumanityChad) August 28, 2024

ABC News reports:

The first day they gave away the ice cream, supplies ran out in 10 minutes and $1,000 was raised. Then, word began to spread about the fundraiser and Danny’s clash with the town. Local media ran stories about the stand, prompting scores of local businesses to hold their own fundraisers for the hockey team.

Among them was Furlong’s Candies, which teamed up with Boston radio station WWBX-FM to hold a fundraiser in their parking lot. They raised $3,600 on a day when lines stretched out the door.

“Danny was trying to do a good thing for his brother’s team — and it’s not just a regular hockey team,” Nancy Thrasher, the store’s co-owner said. “They need a lot more equipment … We were like this is a perfect situation for us to get involved in.”

Thrasher said she understood why the stand had to be shut down but she still felt bad.

“My heart broke for the kid. He was just trying to do good for his brother’s team,” she said.

Town officials, meanwhile, said they received hate mail and death threats over the dispute, which they suggested has been badly mischaracterized in the media.

They argued the family had sold their homemade ice cream before and even promoted it on social media. The letter, officials said, was only sent after the town received several complaints and unsuccessfully tried to contact the family — something the Doherty’s dispute.