NORTHAMPTON - Care for some ice cream with that coffee? A few weeks after a coffee roaster and deli stepped up with a fundraiser for Tapestry Health, a famous ice cream impresario putting his spoon in.

Steve Herrell will be giving away ice cream samples today at his 8 Old South St. shop to promote a new flavor, "Tapestry of Chocolate." The flavor will then go into rotation as one of the 38 flavors Herrell's sells at any one time, from among an inventory of 215 flavors.

The free ice cream will be provided to anyone who asks for it by name from 4 to 9 p.m. today. They will get a free medium dish or cone while supplies last.

Herrell said he wanted to support Tapestry's work after hearing an appeal from Merry Nasser, a board member. "It's just so important in a woman's life, and in the life of the community," Herrell said. "To support them, it's critical."

The ice cream uses a milk chocolate base and adds a swirl of dark chocolate fudge and white and dark chocolate chips. "It's a veritable tapestry of chocolate," Herrell said.

As with the "Tapestry E.C." coffee roast that Dean's Beans debuted last month, proceeds from ice cream sales - about $50 per tub - will go to the Northampton health services provider.

The money is welcome, says Tapestry chief Leslie T. Laurie, because Tapestry needs to raise $175,000 this year to preserve its services in light of federal funding cuts.

The nonprofit has lost about 10 percent of its Title X money as federal authorities redirect money for H.I.V. prevention and health services to providers in areas with the highest incidence of the disease.

At the same time, Tapestry is seeing the demand for its family planning and reproductive health services rise, in part because clients with some types of health insurance face higher deductibles and are looking for low-cost options.

Laurie said the two food-related promotions will raise some needed money - perhaps several thousand dollars - and address a wider goal of raising awareness about Tapestry's struggles.

"We're not banking on anything," she said of the two fundraisers. "We're hoping people will enjoy it and benefit too. Ten thousand dollars means a lot of services here."

She expects the coffee sales will bring the most money to her agency. That promotion, backed by Dean's Beans and Nick Seamon's Black Sheep Deli in Amherst, will be formally launched at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 17 at the deli, which will also mark its 25th anniversary. The coffee sales will also benefit the women who own the Peruvian cooperative that produces the beans used in the roast.

"With something as simple as drinking a cup of coffee, people can help locally and globally," Laurie said.

The name of the coffee roast refers both to "emergency caffeine" and, in a nod to Tapestry's work, "emergency contraception."

Herrell said his shop takes in about $250 for every tub of ice cream it makes and sells, with a net profit of about 20 percent. That comes to $50 a tub, and is the amount that will be given to Tapestry for each container consumed. While Herrell's has created other benefit flavors - a Bridge Street School Crunch and Rocky Ryan Road - this is the first time a fundraiser will be ongoing within the store.

Laurie had not yet tasted this version of chocolate ice cream, but expected to sample it today.

Larry Parnass, the editor of the Gazette, can be reached at editor@gazettenet.com.