New business opening on South Osborne a sweet success story

A new ice cream shop opening in Fort Rouge Thursday is a success story of the sweetest kind.

Chaeban Ice Cream is set to open its doors in the old Banana Boat location on Osborne Street.

Owners Joseph Chaeban and his wife Zainab Ali have spent months months perfecting 14 different ice cream flavours. Before opening the shop, they worked to bring family members, refugees from Syria, to Canada.

RELATED: Couple desperate to bring family from Syria to Winnipeg in 2016

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Chaeban’s pleas for help led to the creation of the South Osborne Syrian Refugee Initiative (SOSRI), which partnered with the Churchill Park United Church to bring Chaeban’s family to Winnipeg.

Chaeban said that played a large part in deciding to open a business here. “It was really important for me to open something for the South Osborne community because they are the people who helped me bring my wife’s family here,” Chaeban said.

“I had job offers in other provinces, but then I asked myself, ‘how can I leave this beautiful place?’ So instead my wife, Zainab and I opened our own business to ensure we could always be a part of this community.”

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Ali said the ice cream shop is a way to show the her gratitude. “What better way to show that than by serving ice cream and putting smiles on people’s faces?”

The ice cream shop officially opens Dec. 21 with a ribbon cutting ceremony.