When Caroline was small, I was able to use the shopping carts that retailers provided.   As she grew older and bigger, it was clear that I would soon have to find another option because she would no longer fit in the cart.   When I needed to shop, I felt a sense of frustration due to my limited options.   Pushing both Caroline in a wheelchair and a grocery cart at the same time was not feasible.   I would have to find a sitter for Caroline, bring someone with me to push her wheelchair, or take her shopping with me and only purchase what I could carry while pushing her wheelchair.

Eventually, my frustration turned to innovation. I made up my mind that Caroline and other kids with special needs deserved the same opportunity as other children – a specialized shopping cart that would enable them to more easily participate with their families in the shopping experience.   So, in 2008 I began my journey to invent a shopping cart for special needs children.   I became obsessed with shopping carts.   I laugh and say I know more about shopping carts than any one person should!

Over the course of three years, I hired a professional design firm to engineer the cart (Indesign, of Indianapolis, Indiana), retained legal counsel for business and patent matters (Johnston Barton Proctor & Rose LLP and Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, of Birmingham, Alabama), and enlisted the services of business and public relations consultants (Dennis Leonard, an Entrepreneurial Business Consultant, and Panorama Public Relations, of Birmingham, Alabama) to help bring Caroline’s Cart to market.

A big boost came from our family’s relationship with Easter Seals, an organization dedicated to helping special needs children across the U.S.   Since Caroline was 13 months old, Caroline has received services from Easter Seals.   I shared my dream of Caroline’s Cart with our local Easter Seals chapter and my husband David flew to Chicago to meet with National Easter Seals to present the idea of Easter Seals endorsing Caroline’s Cart.   They believe in it!   They believe that Caroline’s Cart will be welcomed by thousands of families who have children with disabilities and love the fact that this shopping cart will make it possible for kids with disabilities to be part of a family shopping outing. More than this, when kids with disabilities are visible – with their families – doing everyday errands, it sends an important message to everyone who sees them.   As advocates, Easter Seals' message has always been that kids with disabilities are kids first and need to be included.  With Caroline’s Cart in neighborhood stores, users of Caroline's Cart will be helping communities across the nation to understand this.

Caroline’s Cart has become a reality.   Our goal is to enable special needs children to more easily be included in their family’s every-day life by making Caroline’s Cart available at retailers across the country.   If local retailers do not offer Caroline’s Cart, be sure to ask for it by name or contact us for an outlet nearest you.

For a list of retailers who provide Caroline’s Cart
Click Here!