There’s nothing like a good surprise, especially when it’s Jamba Juice.

Wednesday, a Jamba Juice tent in the Martin Luther King Jr. Commons sold its cold beverages to anyone walking by. This is not the first nor will it be the last time Jamba Juice will offer this

service.

“We offer our fundraising services to any non-for-profit organization who asks us,” said Kim Schmelzer, general manager of Jamba Juice, 1544 Commons Drive in Geneva.

This time the stand was there to help raise funds for the American Red Cross of NIU. Founded in the fall of 2008, the new organization received 20 percent of the revenue raised by Jamba’s sales.

The fundraising continued at the Jamba Juice in Geneva: 20 percent of those proceeds will also go to the NIU Red Cross, Schmelzer said.

“It’s cool that we get a chance to have Jamba Juice in DeKalb, especially because the money goes toward a good cause,” said freshman pre-pharmacy major Stephanie Kacz.

Jamba Juice was originally asked to attend the MLK Commons Wednesday because the NIU Red Cross had a celebration bash slated to go on from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, it canceled due to anticipation of unpleasant weather conditions. The bash is now scheduled for sometime next week.

“All it takes is a phone call from the organization, and we will be there to serve Jamba Juice at their event,” Schmelzer said.

“I’m going to have Jamba Juice for the first time today, in DeKalb no less,” said freshman undeclared major Dan Velazquez.

Though not all flavors from Jamba Juice are offered at events, they choose the ones they anticipate will sell the most, Schmelzer said.

“This is very significant for us; at an event we can make more than the store would in a day. And we can still give a lot back to the community with our proceeds,” Schmelzer said.