An Ohio dad found a sweet way to ensure that his kids with special needs have employment opportunities — and now their business has become a community favorite!
Joel Wegener told NBC affiliate WLWT that he decided to buy an ice cream truck in April after realizing that it may be a challenge for his two adult kids, Josh, 18, and Mary Kate, 21, to receive a job offer because they both have Down syndrome.
“It started out as an idea to sell ice cream, now it’s so much bigger than that,” explained Joel, who also shares eight other biological children with his wife Freida.
“Mary Kate just finished up at Pathways [a program for individuals with varying abilities] and when people asked her, she’s always said, ‘I wanna work with Papa,'” he added to the outlet. “But then when we started talking about this ice cream business, it was just a natural [thing] to bring her in and also bring Josh in.”
Joel ended up buying the ice cream truck from another special needs family in Indiana before his wife came up with the name Special Neat Treats, in reference to their employees with special needs, WLWT reported.
Its A Wonderful Thing ! Way To Go Dad !
Thumbs up. Thanks for sharing this story. Positives help all.