7-11 has its annual Free Slurpee Day

13-year-old Ashley Garman strolled into 7-Eleven on the South Hill around 2 p.m. with her three friends. They had one mission: get free Slurpees.

“I think it’s great but they’re probably not getting any profit,” she said.

The girls crowded around the machine and poured the slushy drink into their cups and the dispenser machine zipped hydraulic sounds.

Alicia Morales, the clerk at the front counter, said about 500 people had participated in the annual free Slurpee day at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 11 – get it, 7/11? – from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. But that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the 9 million Slurpees that 7-Eleven predicts it will give away on Wednesday.